Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation
by Deliverer
Summary: Vacation was supposed to mean relaxation. Unfortunately when trouble follows you everywhere you go, it's not so easy as that, and suddenly what was supposed to be a rest from fighting crime turns into a hostage situation. No negotiations. The perpetrators have one goal in mind. That goal? Jack Hench. Now Will's in a tight spot, and Jack's not willing to gambit his son's life.
1. World Waterpark

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: So it's been a while since I posted the last KP story, I've hit major writers block for it, but this story at least is done and can now be posted. Working on the second installment of Go Team Go too, but that one's taking a lot longer. Sort of taking from a vacation I took to Canada. Can't guarantee when another story in this series will be up, but here's hoping. Until then…)

World Waterpark

"What _is_ this place?" Monique wondered in awe, looking through the glass windows out over the large indoor waterpark.

"This is the first destination of our Edmonton, Alberta tour, the World Waterpark; largest indoor waterpark on Earth," Justine replied, smiling.

"It's _huge_!" Ron exclaimed, gawking at the waterpark. "_Canada's_ huge!"

"Ron, we've been to Canada before, remember?" Kim asked, smirking. "You know, Drakken's Drakanada plan."

"Yeah, but not to one of the _prairie_ states!" Ron exclaimed.

"In Canada they're called Provinces, Ron," Ned said, rolling his eyes.

"This isn't a _leisure_ trip, amateurs. Dr. Director sent us here to keep an eye on Jack Hench," Will declared, frowning at the group with him. The team Director had called out happened to consist of Kim, Ron, Felix, Zita, Monique, Fukushima, Hirotaka, Amelia, Ned, Justine, Josh, Tara, Bonnie, and Senor Junior apparently, at Zita's and Bonnie's absolute insistence. Of course they had had to promise to keep him in the dark about the reason they were here as well as take responsibility for his actions. After all, he was still a villain; well, if you could ever really have _called_ him a true villain. Villainy, for Junior, had always been more of a casual pastime to stave off boredom or to try and please his father. He'd never really been deeply interested in it. Heck, he'd never been deeply interested in anything say for _Bonnie_. Sensei was along as well, with Hana, to supervise the group.

"We are spying on Hench?" Junior asked, suddenly looking uneasy. Will bit his tongue. Dang, that hadn't been supposed to slip out. Especially not to a villain.

"Come on, Du, loosen up a little," Kim teased, nudging him playfully and trying to change the subject so Junior wouldn't decide to get evil. "We're in _Canada_."

"Not particularly wondrous," Will wryly said, looking around the large mall. "Is Canada a situation new to you, Miss Possible?" Will asked.

"Uh, well, no, but I've never really had a chance to just _enjoy_ it. I mean this is totally just surveillance. Jack isn't dumb enough to do anything wrong in so open an area. Besides, don't you find it weird how Director was able to so easily find a reason to watch him?"

"I'm betting your father's finally found a way to get you to go on vacation," Tara teased, knowing full well that Will Du never _ever_ went on holiday.

"And your mother went right along with it. I'll bet they plotted this excursion from the start," Zita agreed, nodding.

Will started, blinking blankly. "Curse you, mom and dad!" he yelled furiously to the sky, because now that the possibility had been given to him, he realized immediately that it was true.

KP

"Come on, dude, it'll be _fun_," Felix assured, patting Will's back.

"I don't do fun," Will stated.

"Ugh, typical. You're, like, even worse than Kim's loser cousin Larry," Bonnie bit, filing her nails.

"Hey, Larry may be a loser, but he…" Kim began. She trailed off. "Never mind." He was her cousin, but a great annoyance he undoubtedly was.

"Wow, Will, you're almost more of a workaholic than _me_," Ned remarked.

"And it's almost an inconceivable occurrence when Ned stops," Justine said, smirking.

"I'll have you know, I…" Will began.

"Waterslides do unkind things to my hair. I think I will just lounge by the wave pool," Senior Junior stated, cutting him off. Will glared at him and rolled his eyes, letting it slide.

"Ooh, that sounds perfect, sweetie," Bonnie sang, hugging Junior's arm. Many of the guys' bodies were shaking from the effort of restraining their laughter.

"You're coming with me on a slide whether you like it or _not_," Zita said to Junior, grinning and holding her cousin's other arm. Bonnie frowned, annoyed, but let it go. Zita was his cousin, after all, not a threat.

"But Zita…" he began to whine.

"Nope, you got no choice," Zita interrupted.

"Tough luck," Will said, smirking.

"If _I_ am doomed to suffer, so are _you_," Junior muttered to Will.

Will started and frowned, saying, "Fine, I'll go, but I won't enjoy it."

"By the time _we're_ through, dude, you'll be having the time of your life. Junior can show you how to party," Josh said, having heard their conversation.

"I will _not_ have fun!" Will insisted.

Yori giggled and said, "Oh Will-san, you and your American style stubbornness. Come, we will all enjoy ourselves."

"This mall must be one of the largest I have ever _seen_," Fukushima said, leaning over a railing and looking down at the miniature Sea World beneath them.

"It was once one of the largest in the _world_," Tara said, holding Josh's arm. "Galaxy Land is another stop we'll have to make. The rides are the _bomb_."

"Come, young ones. We cannot miss the Theatre with the fire breathing dragon either," Sensei said with an affectionate smile as he held Hana. He would not be swimming, of course, but Hana very much liked the water.

"Popcorn!" Rufus cheered, popping up from Ron's pocket. Hana giggled excitedly, waving her arms in the air.

"Scotiabank Theatre, here we come. A booyah," Ron said, smiling and clenching his fist.

KP

"The prices are _outrageous_," Fukushima grumbled as he got his stamp and met up with the others after going through the line. "You must pay for _towels_."

"It's a money-grab, all of it," Will grumbled. "I don't see why this comes as a great surprise to you."

"Of course it is. Luckily _I_ have money to _spend_," Junior boasted, smirking proudly.

"And me to help you," Bonnie said, teasingly grinning at him.

"Don't rub it in," Will said, unable to help but smile at the young Spaniard.

"I dislike wearing bathing suits," Hirotaka complained, unenthusiastic about the fact he would have to change.

"What do you have to be _ashamed_ of?" Amelia asked, smirking.

"The objectifying gazes of you American women," Hirotaka answered.

"And some men," Fukushima teased. "Remember the time…"

Hirotaka twitched then growled icily through gritted teeth, eyes narrowing and fists clenched tightly, "Tojikomeru." Shut up. Fukushima grinned innocently, shrugging. Honestly he wasn't one to talk. He was not as handsome as Hirotaka, but he _certainly_ wasn't at all unappealing to look at.

"Yori, what is the bathing suit you intend to wear?" Hirotaka asked, looking protectively at his sister. The _last_ thing he needed to worry about was men lewdly watching her, clambering for his sister's affections and undressing her with their eyes.

"I don't believe what she wears should concern you," Justine bit.

"She's a feminist," Ned explained, seeing Hirotaka's confused look.

"A what?" Hirotaka asked doubtfully.

"A feminisuto, Mago (grandson)," Sensei explained, chuckling.

"Ah," Hirotaka said eyes lighting up as he caught on. "What my sister wears, Justine-san, concerns me very _much_."

"You don't…" Justine began.

"Justine-san, it is not offensive to me. He is only being a concerned brother," Yori defended, bowing. She was slightly annoyed, what little sister _wouldn't_ be, but had long since gotten used to it.

"Aye caramba, and _I_ am being a concerned _cousin_!" Junior exclaimed in horror on seeing the bikini Zita had brought. Zita burst into laughter, snatching it back.

"So am I," she said to him, pulling out his own chosen suit with a frown. "Tight enough, Junior?" Junior grinned innocently as Will snickered.

"You so totally don't have to worry. _I'll_ protect him from those other women," Bonnie said, giggling teasingly at her boyfriend. He blushed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Yori pulled out her one piece suit, saying, "This is the suit I plan to wear, Hirotaka."

He frowned at it. It was an alluring one piece, he saw, but it wasn't as bad as some he had seen before. In fact, comparatively it was quite modest to many of the girls and women he had seen swimming in the wave pool from the window above. "Ooh, show him the other option you had," Monique insisted. She didn't know why, but she found overprotective Hirotaka adorable to watch.

Kim began laughing. She couldn't wait to see this. Yori grinned devilishly and fished through her bag as a now suspicious and guarded Hirotaka watched. She pulled out a two piece suit that nearly gave Hirotaka a heart-attack, and Sensei as well. "Yori!" Sensei exclaimed.

"Imouto, what were you _thinking_?!" Hirotaka demanded.

"It is not mine, oniisan. It is a suit of Bonnie's that she gave to Amelia who gave it to me. It is not meant to be worn in water," Yori replied. "It is a designer one; one I would likely never wear."

"By all means, _wear_ it," Fukushima said, eyes lighting up brilliantly. He yelped as Hirotaka seized the back of his neck tightly.

"Hey!" Monique shot at Fukushima sharply.

"In my defense the comment I would have made had _you_ drawn that suit from your bag would have been much more… personal," Fukushima whimpered, trying to wriggle away from Hirotaka.

"Boy, I don't know whether to slap you silly or blush," Monique replied.

"Do both," Hirotaka said to her.

"There will be no violence, young ones. We are being watched," Sensei firmly said, looking back at the other people standing in line and watching them all. Hirotaka forced Fukushima towards the men's change room, not bothering to let go of the back of his neck. The other boys followed, Sensei handing Hana to Yori. The girls giggled and entered their own change room.

KP

"Ugh, where are the girls?" Will asked in annoyance, checking his watch.

"They take their time, dude, chill," Felix reassured, smiling in amusement and spinning his chair around to pass the time.

"I am going by the pool," Junior said.

"Hold on a bit, they'll be out soon," Josh replied.

"Look, here they come _now_," Ned added, pointing.

Hirotaka frowned at his sister's bathing suit, unimpressed, but it was more complete, so to speak, than Bonnie's, Tara's, Zita's, Monique's, and Kim's were. Justine and Amelia were more modest as well. He supposed he might be being too critical; after all if he looked at Yori's suit in the perspective of just another male, he would not be so much unimpressed as interested, but the point remained that he was _not_ just another male. Hana giggled, reaching towards the infant waterpark section, obviously excited.

"Here you go, ojiisan (grandfather)," Yori said as she handed Hana over to Sensei.

"Domo, magomusume," Sensei replied, taking his other granddaughter. "Have fun, young ones." Dignified as ever he shuffled off, toting Hana.

KP

"Aw man, I feel so _weak_," Ron lamented, ruefully looking at Hirotaka and Fukushima, both who were, to say the least, ripped. The two weren't all that muscular like Junior was—in fact Fukushima probably had less muscle than _Josh_ did—but they were well defined. In fact, they were shaming him, Josh, Ned, and Felix all, no doubts _about_ it. Will, surprisingly enough, was actually quite strapping as well. Not quite as much so as Fukushima or Hirotaka, but enough.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm, not bad Fukushima," Monique flirtatiously said, winking at him. He blinked and looked down at his abs. He grinned wickedly at her, bowing.

"Wow, Hirotaka has a _great_ bod," Tara whispered excitedly to Bonnie and Amelia.

"I hate to say it, but Will's isn't half bad _either_," Bonnie admitted before she could stop herself.

"What are we, chopped liver?" Josh asked Ron, Felix, and Ned.

"Well, you're better defined than Ron, Felix, and _me_," Ned helplessly offered, shrugging.

Ron caught the cruel look in Fukushima's eyes and groaned, "Oh no, here it comes."

"Here _what_ comes?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, uh, long story short, the school jerk at Yamanouchi was Fukushima; and I mean real hard core jerk," Ron replied, hands self-consciously behind his back.

"Outsider, you call yourself the Ultimate Monkey Master? Look at you," Fukushima acidly bit, poking Ron's stomach harder than necessary. "You are a weakling, no muscle at all."

"Hey, back of. My man Ron might not be toned, but he has muscle," Josh defended, frowning.

"For all the _good_ it does him," Will said to Junior. The two chuckled coldly.

"Perhaps it is best if bullies and victims divide," Yori bit at Fukushima. If he was going to be cruel to Stoppable-San, he could spend his time with Junior, Will, and Bonnie.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Bonnie replied. "Come on, Junior honey, let's go sunbathe."

"Of course, ma paloma," he answered, linking his arm through hers. "Tara, Amelia, are you coming?"

"Um, actually I kind of want to hit the wave pool," Tara replied.

"Come on, you two, have some fun," Zita insisted to Junior and Bonnie.

"Ugh, fine," Bonnie relented. Junior looked as unenthusiastic as Bonnie sounded. Nonetheless, they all headed to the wave pool.

KP

They raced into the water laughing and giggling, diving through and jumping over the waves. Soon enough even Junior, Will, and Bonnie were loosening up. Yori gave a shriek as Hirotaka came up beneath her, prompting her to perch on his shoulders and go above the waves. She grinned excitedly and leapt from her brother's shoulders, doing a cannonball into the water. As the cycle ended they all made their way back to the shallow end. "What next?" Monique excitedly questioned.

"I can do a lot, but even my advanced wheelchair has its limits," Felix ruefully said, looking over it. Robotics and water didn't mix. He had managed to do the wave pool. His arms were mobile and strong. He could swim without much issue, as long as someone was nearby for if his arms got too tired, but waterslides promised to be much harder than the wave pool, especially given the mountains of stairs in this place.

Zita bent and kissed him softly. "I'll follow _you_," she declared.

"Oh Zita, you don't have to," Felix said.

"It's no problem," she assured. "The hot tub behind the plants is really nice."

"I'm so totally sunbathing," Bonnie stated.

"As am I," Junior agreed.

"I'm right there with you," Will said. He planned on playing the part of lifeguard, though. In his defense he had to have _something_ to do, and he didn't trust the lifeguards currently on duty to do their jobs properly. Then again he trusted no one he knew to do their jobs properly.

"Hey Josh, let's grab something to eat from the food shacks," Tara insisted.

Josh grinned, saying, "Sure thing, Tara." He took her hand. "Anyone else?"

"Sure, why not?" Ned agreed.

"I might as well. I'm bored of this menial place already," Justine stated, though if she were to be completely honest she had every intention of going down a few waterslides before the morning was done.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm totally trying the bungee jump," Kim stated, pointing at it.

"Typical, Kim, but I am so there!" Monique exclaimed excitedly.

"As am I. This bungee jump, as you call it, appears to be exciting," Yori agreed.

"I'll go with Josh, Tara, Ned, and Justine to the food shacks," Amelia said, rolling her eyes affectionately.

"Fukushima and I will go on some of the slides," Hirotaka said, looking relishingly at the ones that were almost straight up and down, the one with the various bumps from which many were, as the Western World said 'catching air,' and the one that had a loop. Fukushima grinned.

"Coolio. Looks like I'm taggin' along with _you_ guys," Ron said.

Fukushima frowned icily. "Outsider, go play in the child's pool where you belong," he stated.

"Fukushima!" Hirotaka sharply said. "Stoppable-kun, of course you are welcome to join us," he assured, bowing low.

Fukushima scoffed disdainfully. "Try and keep up," he challenged.

"Oh you're _so_ on," Ron replied, eyes narrowing as he took up the challenge, folding his arms. Fukushima scowled. Ron started off and suddenly Fukushima tripped him.

"Bah!" Ron cried, falling to the ground. Luckily he was able to catch himself or he'd have a bloody face. Fukushima laughed coldly. His laughter cut off abruptly on seeing Hirotaka's dangerous scowl. Fukushima grinned innocently, shrugging and awkwardly clearing his throat.


	2. Old Friends

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: Second up today.)

Old Friends

Ron gaped as Fukushima shot down the slide named 'Nessie's Revenge.' Catching air, he did a triple axel without a moment's hesitation or trouble. Hirotaka, shooting down the one next to him, pulled off a backflip. The two excitedly leapt out of the way and looked up at him. "Come, Outsider, _show_ us your talent!" Fukushima taunted.

"Stoppable-kun, you are able to do this," Hirotaka encouraged.

"Are you _crazy_?!" Ron demanded. He was glad he'd left Rufus with Hana and Sensei, otherwise the poor thing would be terrified; or squished. He'd been none too graceful coming out of the 'Tropical Typhoon', after all.

"I believe you have the ability, Stoppable-kun," Hirotaka replied.

"You give your faith blindly," Fukushima said.

Hirotaka, frowning, replied, "I know. After all, I trust _you_ with my life." Fukushima started and cringed at the two-edged remark. It wasn't a compliment yet wasn't an insult either. "Stoppable-kun has great potential within him, Fukushima. He need only build up the confidence to bring it _out_. You do little for that confidence."

"For good _reason_," Fukushima argued, gesturing up at Ron.

"Is this thing safe?" they heard him ask the slide attendant.

Hirotaka blinked blankly and face-palmed, shaking his head. He could practically sense Fukushima's triumph. "He will do fine," Hirotaka insisted, looking back to Fukushima… Ron's scream could be heard clear across the mall as he flailed like a fish. Fukushima burst into laughter as all eyes turned in horror to the shrieking Ron, thinking something had gone wrong. Ron, shivering, clambered out of the slide with Hirotaka's help. Fukushima continued heckling him.

KP

"Amateur," Will grumbled, shaking his head hopelessly at Ron as people began to relax and go back to what they'd been doing previously.

"The blond boy is very much a sissy," Junior remarked.

"Do you even know his _name_?" Will asked.

"Of course I do, it is Ron Stoppable. It is just more amusing to pretend _not_ to recall it. He gets very upset," Junior replied, smirking. "Dr. Drakken _always_ does such things as that."

"Huh, guess it's not so much of a surprise," Will said, shrugging and standing. "I'm going to go check out one of the tube slides. Coming?"

"Are you serious? And leave my spot? I do not think so," Junior replied.

"Uh huh, whatever. Save my seat," Will said. Junior haphazardly threw a towel on it. Well that could work. Will shrugged and headed towards the tube slides.

KP

Will stood in the lineup, waiting for other tubers to come down and surrender their tubes. It was really very busy in these lineups, though, he realized in disdain. He bumped into someone and turned, saying, "Oh, excuse me, miss." He looked up and started, catching his breath and gaping in disbelief. He recognized this girl from Kim's old high school _cheer_ squad. "Marcella!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Do I know you?" she asked curiously. He looked familiar, Marcella knew. She had seen him around Middleton High once. He'd been a bit of an odd one, so he'd stood out. From what she recalled, he was very serious and stoic.

"Not officially," he answered. "The name's Du, Will Du." He offered his hand.

"Oh, uh, hi. I think I saw you with Kim once. Were you two dating?" Marcella asked.

"Oh please," Will snorted in derision.

"Bad blood?" Marcella asked.

"Not quite. More rivalry issues," he answered.

"Oh," she said.

"Hey sis, I got a tube, but it's for three," another voice said.

Will looked up and started. It was another cheerleader from Kim's squad. Hope, he believed her name was. "About time," Marcella replied. "Hey Hope, this is Will Du. He was an acquaintance of Kim's, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I saw you once or twice. Will short for William?" Hope asked.

"Affirmative," Will confirmed, nodding.

"Still odd as ever," Marcella said, smirking. "Well, Hope is my twin sister. Hey, why don't you come along with us? The tube's for three, after all."

"Me? Oh, uh, well, I guess, I mean sure," Will stammered, blushing for the first time in a _long_ time. He wasn't exactly what you'd call suave with women. He'd had little interest in any such frivolities and even less _time_ for them. The only steady relationship he'd _had_ with a female had been his mother. No, he _wasn't_ a mama's boy.

"Hey, have you heard from Kim lately? We've sort of fallen out of touch with her," Marcella said as she and Hope walked with Will up the stairs towards the top of the slides.

"Actually, she's here," Will answered.

"No way! Marcella, we totally have to find her," Hope excitedly said.

"Look up," Will said. They did so and gasped, seeing her at the top of the bungee jump.

"Kim!" Hope called.

Kim started and looked down. "Oh my gosh, Marcella, Hope!? No _way_!" Kim called, waving excitedly. "Let's meet up, girls! Bonnie and Tara are here too! It'll be like a reunion!"

"We're so there, Kim!" Marcella replied. They continued up the steps with Will, who looked annoyed with the whole process.

"Girl talk. Humph, not exactly intellectual stimulation," he grumbled.

"Intellectual stimulation, huh?" Marcella asked, smirking.

"That means…" Will began.

"Conversation in which the topics of discussion focus around scholarly, scientific, or otherwise academic subjects," Marcella finished for Will. Will started, blinking at her in shock.

"Marcella was straight A's all through high school," Hope proudly said, putting her hand on her twin's shoulder. Marcella grinned.

"Whoa…" Will said, and that was _all_ he could say. He hadn't honestly expected straight A's from a _cheerleader_. Not even Kim had gotten straight A's throughout. Her Home Ec. class had crashed her chance at that kind of score. He believed she graduated with a B in that subject, after Ron's lessons to her in cooking and whatnot that is, otherwise she would have failed.

"Shall we?" Marcella said.

"Let's," Will replied, smiling. This could prove to be interesting after all.

KP

"So, what are you girls doing in Canada?" Tara asked Hope and Marcella as the group walked out of the Waterpark together.

"Our father is here on business," Hope replied.

"It's apparently a pretty big deal," Marcella agreed. "Actually, there are quite a _few_ big company men there; mostly in the guns and weapons business."

"Company men? Guns and weapons business? Did one of these men go by the name of Hench?" Will asked.

"Actually, yeah," Hope said.

"You know of him?" Marcella asked.

"The rich dude is Will's dad," Ron replied proudly for Will. Will cringed.

"Thank you for that, Ronald," he growled through clenched teeth. That wasn't something that he wanted everyone to know.

"What happened to your stomach?" Bonnie questioned Ron, looking him over as she sensed that the subject needed to be changed.

"We went down 'Blue Lightning,'" Ron replied, cringing. They had had to sit on a thin skim board and slide down a sharply angled incline then skip across the water… He'd belly flopped and skipped along on his stomach. Fukushima hadn't been able to stop laughing. Hirotaka, for his part, had quickly contacted first aid and tried to make sure Ron hadn't bled too badly. Angel and Demon he'd called them then and there to their faces. That had stopped Fukushima's laughter. It had also almost gotten Ron _drowned_. Long story short, the reason they were leaving the waterpark now was _not_ voluntary. One thing had led to another and the next thing anyone knew Hirotaka and Fukushima were ripping into each other without mercy. The only one able to tear them from each other's throats and prevent them from murdering one another was Sensei. There had been fighting, there had been bruising, there had been sprained limbs, and there had been blood before the end of that battle. In fact, currently Fukushima and Hirotaka were 'no longer friends' as they claimed. Not that any of the others thought much on that. 'No longer friends,' to Hirotaka and Fukushima, meant simply that there was no limit to what could or would be said and done. They could insult, attack, and belittle each other without guilt or hesitation. Neither would be able to complain or feel hurt either because, as established, they were 'not friends anymore.'

Maybe when the duo had been younger, perhaps even in high school, that statement had actually been more serious; they had spoken, before, of going from best friends to arch enemies overnight on more than one occasion, often with nearly fatal results. Now, though, they were both more grown up. Of course it would probably still be up to Hirotaka to be the peacemaker between them. _Fukushima_ certainly wouldn't swallow his stubborn pride. In fact, Ron wondered how many more incidents like this Hirotaka would tolerate before giving up on their friendship. Given their history and relationship, probably there _was_ no limit, but still. Regardless, the two were doing a good job at 'not being friends' for real this time.

KP

Soon enough the group was up on the main floor, Sensei looking reproachfully at a sulking Fukushima and an aggravated Hirotaka. He would need to watch these two carefully, now. "Hirotaka, Fukushima, stop this senseless brooding."

"No," Fukushima bluntly replied.

"Master Sensei, we will deal with each other as we see fit," Hirotaka answered.

"As you see fit most often ends in one or the other of you ending up in _hospital_, usually in critical condition," Sensei sharply said.

"He dishonors himself, his family, me, _my_ family, and the whole of _Yamanouchi_! I will not let such shame, disgrace, and rudeness go without consequence," Hirotaka replied.

"Always the champion, never the scoundrel," Fukushima sneered. "We all know your goodness is a _lie_! Do not think us all fools! You are no black and white hero. You would kill without hesitation or remorse in a moment to defend your loved ones, yes, but you would kill without hesitation or remorse for your _own_ sake as _well_!"

Hirotaka darkly scowled and spun on Fukushima, shouting, "I have _never_ denied the truth of your words, Fukushima! Conflicting a man though I am, I have limits I will-not-bend!"

"You will not rape, you will not commit multiple-murder or genocide; that does _not_ mean you have limits others would deem acceptable! Remember the twenty defenseless men you slaughtered?!" Fukushima demanded.

"For your sake!" Hirotaka yelled.

"For _yours_; for what they'd done to _you_, not me!" Fukushima almost screamed. Hirotaka started. He could do nothing but blink. "I was secondary to your pride."

"That is not true," Hirotaka replied, but his eyes betrayed his uncertainty, and they knew, then, that he didn't know _himself_ what the truth of it was.

"You are essentially good, brother, but essentially does _not_ mean completely. Your moral compass is ambiguous at the _best_ of times, and what others deem evil, you are more open towards," Fukushima stated.

KP

Hirotaka's eyes lit up and for a moment they all thought he would attack. Each one dropped into a fighting stance in case he did and they had to pry him away from Fukushima. Sensei, though, placed a firm hand on Hirotaka's shoulder, saying, "Mago, let it go this time. Do you not see the fear you and Fukushima instill?" Hirotaka looked around and saw horrified mall patrons gawking at them. Security guards stood nearby, ready to react. Hirotaka's fighting muscles relaxed as he sighed.

"Forgive me, sofu. I lost myself," Hirotaka replied.

"Weak, as always," Fukushima sneered. Hirotaka cast him a scathing glare but didn't respond. To respond would only feed Fukushima's hunger for power and attention. Not that he wasn't tempted, but it didn't seem worth it.

"I am sorry for the way I have acted, brother," Hirotaka finally said, swallowing his pride and bowing low to Fukushima. He knew the younger man wouldn't so easily let it go. Fukushima would push and push, sometimes hard enough to get him to take back the apology and attack again, but usually if he just bore it and gave no reaction of either submission or domination, Fukushima would drop it and begin to think back over his actions. Sometimes he would come to regret them and apologize profusely. Sometimes they would just go back to normal like nothing ever happened. If there was one thing to be said about their friendship, it was one adventure after another, a journey in which one did not know what to expect next.

"Great, apologies have been given, let's get to Galaxy Land," Marcella quickly said, eager to be done with the tension in the air. The others chimed in eager and desperate agreements, hoping no more would come of Fukushima's and Hirotaka's current friendship hiatus.

KP

As they walked through the mall towards Galaxy Land, they became aware of Fukushima and Hirotaka. They were speaking quietly to each other, at least, and Fukushima's eyes appeared filled with regret and guilt. "Hey, you guys are…" Ron began.

"Hush, Stoppable-kun, do not interrupt their reconciliation. If you do so, they will relapse," Yori warned. Fukushima and Hirotaka shot Ron and Yori annoyed looks, but apparently the disruption wasn't enough to break their willingness to talk about what had just occurred.

"What's the longest they've gone as enemies?" Kim wondered.

"Two years," Yori answered.

"Two _years_?" Monique repeated in disbelief.

"Hai… It was… a very tense time," Yori replied. "Sensei had us all on alert. We were not to let them go anywhere alone together. Of course, had one of them ended up dead, the other would have immediately regretted their actions and been consumed with guilt and remorse. Unfortunately, when one is dead they are dead; there is no going back, there is no room for regret. They could hardly be in the same vicinity without turning on one another. I believe that is when Hirotaka began to truly see and understand the tendencies towards deception, betrayal, and wickedness that Fukushima had. When the years were up, over the break they went back to best friends as if nothing had ever happened… Except Hirotaka was all the more defensive and protective of Fukushima. I believe part of it was because he did not wish to risk his friend falling to darkness."

"For all the good _that_ did," Ron dryly said.

"The Exchange incident was probably the first time they had been so far apart from each other for such an extended period without contact," Amelia defended. "Without Hirotaka as a buffer, Fukushima was easy prey to his past with Monkey Fist."

"She is correct," Yori verified.

"Wow, sounds like one complex relationship; but _man_ those two must be tight," Hope said. She and Marcella had little knowledge about the two Japanese youths beyond Hirotaka's coming to Middleton for an exchange program.

"Very much so," Yori replied, smiling. Fukushima and Hirotaka chuckled together at an inside joke.

"Lovers?" Hope asked.

Ron spewed out the pop he'd been drinking and began to cough. He burst into laughter right after, doubling over. Yori cringed in embarrassment for Ron's behavior, and Sensei raised an eyebrow at Hope's inquiry. Fukushima and Hirotaka looked at Ron like he was insane. "Would someone care to elaborate what we have missed?" Hirotaka wondered. Yori face-palmed.

"Hope asked if you two were, uh, lovers," Kim replied. Soon enough Ron wasn't the only one laughing. Fukushima had joined him. Hirotaka was shaking his head hopelessly at the two. How mature of them… not.

"Heterosexual Life Partners," Ned explained.

"What now?" Hope asked.

"Extremely tight friendship; they share a bond that may even be tighter than the bond shared by romantic partners," Ned explained.

"It's a sibling thing; sort of big-brother little-brother," Kim backed.

"Suffice it to say if they weren't both heterosexual they would be together," Justine deadpanned.

"That would be like marrying my sister," Hirotaka said, frowning at Justine.

"You know you would have me, brother," Fukushima teased. Hirotaka smirked, rolling his eyes affectionately. Kim smiled at the two. It was good that they were starting to make up, but she couldn't shake the feeling that one day something would go horribly wrong.


	3. Galaxy Land Encounter

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: Ron's Monkey Powers and a serious upgrade in his skill will factor into this series and some point, likely the next installment or the one after, but for now he hasn't gotten to the second or third stepping stone quite yet. Still has a lot of insecurities and uncertainties to deal with. He's only ever seen them wielded professionally for evil in Monkey Fist, so he's cautious and mistrustful of them. As to Hirotaka and Fukushima, there is little that could break them apart, but there's always a breaking point. Threats to their camaraderie will be toyed with in future stories, but it would take a lot, and I mean a lot, for Hirotaka or Fukushima to get to the point of 'You're dead to me', even for only a short time. It did happen right after Fukushima's treachery for a fair while; until Hirotaka found him dying as shown in an early installment of this series.)

Galaxy Land Encounter

The group looked excitedly around the large indoor amusement park. There were rides as far as they could _see_! "Wow," Ron said. "KP, check it _out_!" he exclaimed, taking her arms gleefully. Kim laughed good-naturedly and beamed.

"Let's try the _Swing of the Century_," Marcella said.

"Whatever. At least it _looks_ like a nice and easy ride to start with," Bonnie replied. Honestly she'd rather be at a spa than here, though. Junior wasn't much more enthusiastic about it.

KP

The group came off of the ninth or so ride they'd gone on laughing. Bonnie was near to throwing up. The only ones showing any real concern were Junior, Tara, and Amelia. "Like, I think I'm totally going to throw up," Bonnie groaned.

"The Mindbender wasn't _that_ bad, Bonbon," Josh teased.

"It was more dangerous before. There was a pretty bad accident a couple decades ago. Three dead and a fourth critically injured. I think there was someone who died of a concussion a few years after too, but don't quote me on it," Marcella said.

"Dead? Dude, if I'd known _that_ I so totally wouldn't have _ridden_ it!" Ron exclaimed in horror, looking back at the coaster distrustfully.

"There hasn't been an accident since, Stoppable. Don't be a whiner," Will said.

"Coming from _you_?" Kim asked Will. Will shot her a dagger like glare, scowling. She smirked teasingly.

"Who's up for the Haunted Funhouse?" Monique asked.

"After that can we please leave?" Bonnie pled.

"Alright, Bonnie, you win," Kim answered, putting a hand on Bonnie's shoulder and grinning playfully. She harrumphed, picking Kim's hand off of her shoulder and walking towards it, nose in the air.

KP

Ron shrieked in terror, leaping into Josh's arm. "Something touched me, something touched me!" he exclaimed.

"Dude, chill, it's a haunted house," Josh said.

"Things are _supposed_ to scare you," Ned backed, exchanging exasperated looks with Felix.

"At least he isn't as bad as _Bonnie_," Justine remarked, reproachfully looking back at the brown haired girl who was cowering behind Junior, eyes wide and skin pale.

"I want out of here!" Bonnie screamed. Marcella gasped as something sprang out, backing up a couple of steps and into Will. Will started, catching her arms and holding her steady.

"Easy. Would you prefer if _I_ went ahead?" Will asked. Having been exposed to real life-threatening dangers repeatedly before, a haunted house didn't scare him.

"Do you have a flashlight? It's pitch _black_ in here," Marcella answered. It was true. She couldn't see two inches in front of her _face_.

"Always," Will answered, activating his watch and taking the lead. Even Kim and the ninjas were stumbling around in the dark. The staff really had to do something with the lighting in this area. The point of a haunted house was that you were able to find your way through it and preferably _see_ the terrors; at least most of them.

Will led the way through the place and the group came out into the light. "Whoa, bright much?" Zita said, blinking in the light and rubbing her eyes uncomfortably.

"Having fun, kids?" a voice asked. Immediately they all gasped, stiffening. They knew that voice. Sharply they looked to the side.

"_Dad_!" Will exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

KP

"Whoa, what are _you_ doing here?" Felix demanded, eyes narrowing suspiciously at Jack who was standing next to the calm Sensei who held Hana close.

"I'm here for a conference," Jack replied, smirking amusedly. He almost looked like the Cheshire Cat only minus the teeth flashing grin.

"What kind? Villains Incorporated?" Will sneered.

"Will, I have nothing to hide from you or GJ. I've never committed an illegal act in my life," Jack replied. And technically that was true. He _hadn't_. More or less.

"At least not directly," Will doubtfully bit.

"I'll confess to being a corporate lobbyist to the extreme, but that's about as bad as it gets," Jack claimed.

"Lies!" Will exclaimed. He knew this routine very well by now. His father was playing games with him.

"Be nice," Tara warned Will, catching the glint that sparkled for a moment in Jack's eyes.

"Hello Mr. Hench, I'm Hope," Hope said, offering her hand.

"And I'm her twin sister, Marcella," Marcella added, offering her own. Jack raised an eyebrow on seeing Marcella's other hand in his son's. He smirked in amusement, eyes lighting up as he gave a wicked and knowing look to his child. Will blinked then realized what his father was so intrigued by. He blushed deeply and quickly released Marcella's hand, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"Our father is one of the men attending the same conference that _you_ are," Hope declared.

"Is he now? I'll be sure to search him out. Pleased to meet you, girls," Jack replied, warmly taking both of their hands and shaking. They grinned.

"Your dad doesn't seem so bad," Marcella remarked.

"To you and the world, maybe. GJ, Kim, Ron, Wade, Yori, Hirotaka, Junior, and Fukushima know better, though," Will replied.

"He has not done anything illegal for father or I," Junior said, shrugging. Will gave him a cold glare that just screamed 'shut up'.

"Son, eight billion people can't be _wrong_," Jack stated as casually as anything.

"In point of fact…" Sensei began.

"Don't bring up some metaphor of flies eating dung," Jack warned. Sensei shrugged, falling silent. He was not alarmed by Jack Hench, but he _was_ interested in seeing how this all went over.

"Don't play that game with me," Will growled, folding his arms sulkily and turning his back on the man. "What do you want, Jack?"

"Your mother and I prompted you to come here for a reason, kiddo. Think of this as a family vacation. Well, without your mother, but she'll show up within a couple days," Jack replied. "Come on, kids, I'll show you to your hotel."

"Hotel?" Fukushima questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Long story short, your vacation is all expenses paid," Jack answered, winking. As he handed them each a few bills like it was cheap change. "To reimburse you for what you've already purchased."

KP

"Whoa, wait, you're paying for our _vacation_?" Kim incredulously asked.

"What are allies for?" Jack replied.

"Oh gods; don't make me _gag_, poser!" Will practically yelled.

"Like I said, all expenses paid," Jack stated in reply to Kim, ignoring his son.

"Okay, what's the sitch? What do you want in return?" Kim suspiciously asked.

"Nothing at all. Remember, Miss Possible, that I work on your side more often than not and am always fully willing to cooperate with you when things of mine get stolen," Jack replied. "Come on, boys and girls; the Fantasyland Hotel waits."

"The Fantasyland _Hotel_?! Man, that's like one of the most expensive Hotels _in_ this city!" Monique excitedly screeched.

"I know," Jack answered, beckoning for them to follow.

"Mr. Hench, you the _bomb_!" Monique exclaimed.

"Monique!" Kim exclaimed.

"I mean, you the _bad_ bomb!" Monique covered. Kim shook her head hopelessly. Still, she had to admit that this offer was pretty generous; not to mention unexpected of _Jack_.

KP

"All right, so here's how the breakdown of rooms goes," Jack began, hanging up his cellphone. "Kim, Monique, and Yori, you three girls share the African Luxury themed room. Bonnie, Tara, Amelia, you girls get the Hollywood Luxury themed one. Hope, Marcella, you were last minute additions to the group, but nonetheless I've managed to swing you two the Igloo Luxury themed room, with your father's permission, of course. He'll be joining you as well. Ned, Felix, you boys get the Canadian Rail Luxury theme; Justine, Zita, you get Polynesian Luxury; Josh, Ron, and Senor Junior, Western Luxury. Hirotaka, Fukushima, Arabian Luxury; Sensei, Hana, Polynesian Luxury Family. Will and I will share the Roman Luxury room."

"Great," Will unenthusiastically said. He got to share a room with the father he despised. At least Jack hadn't gotten something as common as one of the Executive rooms; the ones that looked like any other hotel room only way fancier.

"Good memories here," Jack murmured. "In fact, I brought your mother here once before; the Petals and Passion package." He chuckled tantalizingly, saying, "_That_ was a night I won't soon forget."

"Dad, come _on_!" Will insisted, aghast. "Ugh, old people and love; I don't need to _hear_ it!"

"We as mankind are intimate beings, Du-san. There is nothing disturbing about your parents experiencing the feelings and actions associated with love," Sensei stated.

"Yes there _is_! I mean come on. Opposite sides of the moral spectrum, sworn to destroy each other, polar opposite counterparts; in no way was that relationship supposed to work!" Will argued.

"I'm one of the neutral guys, kiddo. I don't…" Jack began.

"Don't give me the law abiding citizen malarkey! I _know_ what you are," Will shot.

"I _didn't_ give you that spiel," Jack pointed out, frowning at his son.

"Ugh, let's just get to our rooms," Will bit.

Jack frowned. Oh this was going to be fun. "And as far as I know, your mother and I don't share the same house and in fact share custody over _you_. Doesn't sound like the relationship worked at all," Jack remarked, catching up to his son and giving him a glare. Let Will think what he would.

"Like anyone could _tell_. I have been waiting my whole life for the day mom will say, 'Pack up your things, we're moving back in with your father,'" Will argued. Good. _Finally_ he'd caught Jack up in a legitimate argument. At least it felt normal for once instead of like he was just laughing at him behind his back.

"I haven't heard any plans for that to come about, so you can rest easy!" Jack shot. The others exchanged looks and drifted away from father and son to find their rooms.

KP

"Should I be insulted he picked the African Themed room for my group?" Monique asked.

"I guess it's just a _thing_?" Kim suggested.

"_Are_ you insulted, Monique?" Yori questioned.

"Well, no, but still," Monique replied.

"It is, perhaps, each individual's own thoughts on the matter. Hench-san took a chance," Yori said.

"The guy would be one heck of a gambler," Kim said, smirking playfully. "I like this room, actually. I like it a _lot_."

KP

"Let me guess, this is the room you and mom had when you added that love package," Will grumbled, looking around the Roman Luxury themed room.

"Actually _yes_," Jack replied.

"Do you know how sick and twisted you are?" Will growled.

"You want an answer?" Jack asked.

"I hate you," Will grumbled.

"Look at it this way, champ. You could have had worse for a father," Jack said.

"_How_?" Will demanded.

"Let me count the ways," Jack replied. "I could have been a drunk, I could have been a drug addict, I could have been neglectful, I could have been physically abusive, I could have been mentally abusive, I could have been sexually abusive, I could have been…"

"Enough!" Will snapped. "Gods, you are so _jaded_! Why do you have to ruin everything?"

"You asked," Jack replied, shrugging and smirking.

"I swear to the divines, Jack, I _swear_; I'll see justice served to you one way or another," Will stated.

"I've never denied that," Jack replied. Will started, taken aback by this.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Son, if my past doesn't catch up with me first, another form of judgement _will_," Jack replied. "I can only tell you that said judgement won't be the law; or my associates," Will, confused, blinked blankly at his father. Apparently, though, Jack wasn't about to explain what he meant.


	4. Hanging Out

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: Second up today. Next chapter the hostage thing comes in.)

Hanging Out

Hirotaka and Fukushima walked through the mall. "You must admit, the room was nice," Hirotaka remarked.

"_Beautiful_; but there is only one bed," Fukushima replied.

"Your point?" Hirotaka asked, smirking teasingly.

"It will be cramped," Fukushima answered, frowning coldly at him and not bothering to snap up the bait his friend had dropped.

"You let old rumors and judgments affect you too much, brother. You are becoming Americanized. It is a large bed. There is no reason to feel insecure about what others think. We are more confident than that, you and I," Hirotaka replied, shrugging. The ninja spotted a waitress in one of the many food courts, struggling with her plates. She cried out, tossing them into the air as she slipped. He moved swiftly, catching her in one arm and quickly snatching the plates from the air, balancing them on his free arm, a leg, and on his head. "Hi," Hirotaka said, winking flirtatiously at her. She, awed, blushed and giggled.

"That was _amazing_! Thanks," she replied, taking the plates back.

"Be careful, it is slippery," Hirotaka remarked.

"Luckily _you_ were there," she replied.

"I, as you say, 'try to please'. It was my honor," he answered, leaning against a pillar like a player; which he was, Fukushima knew. He almost felt like calling Hirotaka out and shaming him. Such forward actions were not appropriate. But then Hirotaka had always been adaptable. He could tell certain types of girls from a mile away and he was culturally savvy enough to know how to behave if he wished to attract women of another culture. The younger ninja rolled his eyes. Hirotaka had always been a ladies man. To his credit, though, he had calmed quite a bit since high school. Fukushima suspected that was in part due to Amelia; and Yori as well, most probably. She had always belittled her brother about his shameless flirting, often calling him dishonorable, which Hirotaka had usually laughed off. Honor had become far less important to him since… since learning that which was to be his fate; at least as Hirotaka believed.

"You do at that," she replied, jotting down a number on a pad of paper and slipping it to him, winking and carrying on with her duties.

Hirotaka grinned, returning to Fukushima. "Don Juan, Adonis, and Casanova _combined_, hmm?" Fukushima asked, rolling his eyes.

"Hai, or Genji," he replied none too modestly. Fukushima playfully shoved his friend, smirking. Hirotaka laughed and said, "Come, let us get something to eat. Yori will be meeting us soon with Monique."

KP

Yori and Monique soon arrived and found their way to the table at which Hirotaka and Fukushima sat. "Imouto," Hirotaka greeted, kissing Yori's cheek tenderly. Yori grinned at him and bowed.

"Marcella and Hope are gonna show up here pretty quick too, just FYI," Monique said.

"FYI?" Yori questioned with a curious frown.

"For your information," Monique clarified. "Here they come _now_." Sure enough the two sisters approached and sat.

"So, Fukushima and Yori, right?" Marcella asked, pointing at the two ninjas she hadn't met before today.

"Hai," the two said together, bowing.

"So, Hirotaka, are you and _Yori_ like an item?" Hope asked, taking note of the arm Hirotaka was draping over the girl's shoulders. There was no way this guy was single, she believed, and with Fukushima ruled out surely it was the ninja girl he treated so affectionately that was with him.

"An item?" Hirotaka questioned.

"You know, dating, lovers?" Hope clarified.

"We are engaged," Hirotaka replied, eyes lighting mischievously up as he wrapped his other arm lovingly around her and pulled her near, kissing her affectionately on her temple. Yori grinned, closing her eyes softly.

"In a whole crap load of dimensions I crossed during the PDVI incident, you two really _were_, or dating," Monique remarked.

"You must admit, it would make sense in the views of many," Fukushima teased.

"Because we are siblings it is natural we would seen as a 'cute couple.' It is natural we would be _drawn_ to each other," Yori answered.

"You know, there are actually incidents in which a brother and sister have been separated at birth and later end up meeting up, purely by coincidence, then falling madly in love, marrying, and never finding out about it. There was actually an account where two twins were born and the parents divorced early. Neither twin knew they had a sibling and in adulthood they met each other, fell in love, married, and had a child. When they decided to introduce each other and the new baby to the parents, they found out the truth about it," Marcella remarked. Hirotaka and Yori blinked blankly.

"So, are you two siblings or lovers?" Hope asked, still a little confused. She certainly _hoped_ there was no incest going on.

"Though very often we have gone undercover as lovers, husband and wife, fiancées, or a couple 'crushing,' as you say, on each other, we are partners and siblings," Yori answered.

"With dangerous consequences in the event that Hirotaka becomes lost in a sea of emotions," Fukushima wryly added, remembering all too clearly the Moodulator incident of a while ago.

"Do not remind me," Hirotaka replied, grimacing at the thought as guilt came to his eyes. He knew all too well what he had almost done to his sister, and _she_ knew it as well. Their bond was close, and it hadn't been a surprise to any when other ninjas in Yamanouchi or in other parts of the world had thought them lovers, but it did not make it any more acceptable or correct in his eyes; in _anyone's_ for that matter.

"What happened?" Marcella, ever curious, asked.

"It got bad, real bad; let's leave it at that," Monique replied. "Fukushima and Yori used to date, though."

"It was short-lived," Yori remarked, frowning reproachfully at her brother.

"It was not a fitting match, we have gone through this multiple times," Hirotaka grumbled, sipping his soda.

"Perhaps _you_ wanted your sister, brother?" Fukushima taunted. Whenever someone assumed Hirotaka and Yori to be lovers, he couldn't help but laugh. It was fodder for sometimes days on end.

"I will drown you in the fountain, Fukushima," Hirotaka warned. Fukushima remained smiling, but the smile was uncertain. He couldn't tell if Hirotaka had been exaggerating or _not_. That was never a good thing. Hirotaka, focusing on Hope and Marcella again, said, "Currently I am not technically seeing anyone… though there _is_ someone I am very interested in."

"Who?" Hope questioned.

"Amelia," Fukushima sang.

Hirotaka glared at him. "Do not be so quick to taunt, brother, when you are very much allured towards Monique," he warned. Fukushima and Monique blushed deeply, exchanging looks before quickly going back to the food they were eating without a word.

KP

"So, what's the scoop on Will and his dad?" Hope asked.

"Oh it's nothin' big. GJ takin' things out of proportion and Kim and Ron following right behind," Monique replied, waving her hand dismissively in the air. "They figure Hench is some big time Crime Lord. They don't have a scrap of proof to it."

"You cannot write off Jack Hench so easily. There is something sinister about him," Hirotaka stated.

"Man, he _paid_ for this whole vacation," Monique argued. "He _can't_ be that bad of a dude."

"The most dangerous of people, Monique-chan, are those you do not know are dangerous, and those you do not know exist," Yori replied gravely. "The world does not know Jack Hench exists. They know the label of HenchCo, but nothing more. GJ is in pursuit of him for a reason."

"Maybe the rich guy got bored and just decided to liven up his life," Marcella suggested. "What better way than to get a spy agency on your back just for the _heck_ of it?"

"I would not put it passed him, to lead us on a wild goose chase," Fukushima wryly said, rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, long story short don't bring up their relationship around them unless, you know, they're in a really good mood," Monique finished.

"Ooh, that bad, huh?" Marcella asked.

"Will-san would like very much to kill his father," Hirotaka said. "At the same time, his father's demise would tear him apart. It is… an interesting relationship."

KP

Will shot at the target six times in succession, two bullets hit the stomach, three hit the chest, and one nailed the head. He smirked proudly and spun his gun, saying, "Oh I'm good."

"Not bad, kiddo, not bad," Jack praised. He took aim and fired six times. Will's mouth dropped; five bullets in the head, one in the chest. "I could have gotten them all in the head, but if you want someone dead with a little thing like _this_, you shoot the heart. Heads don't always explode like in those little video games you kids play these days."

"How would _you_ know?" Will asked; of course _he_ knew the truth in that statement, but he doubted any average Joe Blow on the street would. Then again he thought _little_ of the average Joe Blow on the street, but still.

"Son, humanity is more intelligent than you give them credit for," Jack said.

"Actually they _aren't_," Will deadpanned.

"If you keep underestimating people, Will, you'll end up regretting it. One day you'll label the wrong person stupid, and you'll pay dearly for it," Jack said.

"Is that the mistake _your_ people continuously make?" Will questioned. "They start to think you're dumb, they start to get cocky and think they can overthrow you, and so you have to knock them off."

"Will, Will, Will, you know better than this," Jack replied.

"Ah hah, a confession!" Will exclaimed.

"What confession?" Jack casually asked, selecting the largest gun available at the gun range. He returned to his son, whose eyes widened on seeing the weapon that was aimed right at his stomach. He couldn't help but feel uneasy whenever his father held any kind of weapon in his hand. Jack was unpredictable. One moment he could be innocent, the next he could murder every person in this gun range. Well, at least that's how Will liked to see it.

"Okay, seriously, aim that at a target or put it down. I _will_ shoot you if I have to, old man," Will warned, eyes not leaving the weapon.

"William, you really think I could murder my own son?" Jack asked innocently.

"I really think you could and _would_ do a lot more than _that_," Will answered. Jack chuckled and turned to a target. He took aim and fired, hitting it.

KP

The crowd gathered around to watch in awe as Hirotaka and Fukushima put on a show, sparring in the center of the mall and showing off their abilities. Sensei would likely have their heads for this, but it was a chance they were willing to take. Marcella, Hope, and Monique were cheering wildly. "What's going on, Monique?" Kim asked as she and the rest of the girls pushed through the crowds and joined their friends.

"Hirotaka and Fukushima are goin' _wild_, girl, check out them moves!" Monique exclaimed. Kim looked and gasped. She hadn't been _kidding_.

"Ugh, show-offs," Bonnie grumbled, folding her arms.

"They're totally stealing the _crowd_!" Tara exclaimed, grinning widely.

"What they appear to be doing is _feeding_ from the encouragement of the people," Justine corrected, watching disdainfully.

"What's going on?" Will asked as he and his father, and the other boys whom they'd found wandering around the stores—or in Junior's case admiring himself—appeared on the scene.

"Hirotaka and Fukushima are putting on a show," Zita answered, pointing to the two Ninjas attacking or competing free-run style against each other with absolutely no thoughts as to the security guards fighting through the crowds to break them up.

"Hirotaka and Fukushima dishonor themselves, putting on such a display of Yamanouchi tactics," Sensei, who had just appeared on the scene, coldly said. He plopped Hana in Yori's arms and shuffled towards his duelling pupils, fully intending to lecture them. He couldn't use his powers, that would alarm the crowds, but he could stop them from doing such feats. "Hirotaka, Fukushima!" Sensei sharply called, finally reaching the middle. The two hardly heard, continuing to grin, spar, and show off their Parkour slash Free Running abilities. "Hirotaka, Fukushima!" Sensei called louder. Still they gave no signs of hearing. "Teishi!" he yelled out to them. Halt. Immediately the two froze, quickly looking over at him with eyes wide. Immediately they flipped from their perches and landed next to the man.

"Hai," the two said together, bowing to him.

"Have you forgotten that we are no longer at Yamanouchi? This is _not_ the place for your sparring matches. Our secret techniques are meant to be just that; secret. Already security comes to try and break you up, fearing the worst. We are shinobi, we do not seek to draw attention to ourselves; we seek the shadow," Sensei lectured quietly in Japanese.

"Leave us be, old man," Fukushima growled.

"Fukushima, silence; Master Sensei makes a point. He wishes only to ensure our safety," Hirotaka said. Fukushima harrumphed, crossing his arms.

KP

"What is going on here?" a security guard demanded of the two.

"You must forgive my students their obnoxiousness," Sensei said, bowing low and apologetically. "Such is the way of youth."

"Way of youth or not, they won't get off so easily," the head of security replied.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, no need to be so 'by the book,'" Jack said, stepping forward and up to Sensei's side. "They're merely a couple of kids having fun."

"They can have fun if they want, but not in the middle of the mall kung-fu fighting each other," the head of security replied.

"Might I suggest you let them off the hook with a warning? After all, they didn't know any better," Jack defended. "Besides, you know how easily things can be twisted to suit the media. We wouldn't want to have a big publicity scandal, would we?" The head of security started, a flicker of uncertainty flashing through his eyes. "I didn't think so," Jack purred.

"Very well, just don't do it again," the head of security said, glaring firmly at the two boys. With that he and the rest of the guards who had come to the scene dispersed along with the crowds, many of which came up to Hirotaka and Fukushima admiring and praising them.

"I certainly hope I won't have to keep covering your messes for you, kids," Jack said, turning to the young adults. Hirotaka and Fukushima awkwardly cleared their throats. "Good." He checked his watch and added, "Why don't we all go for dinner and then catch a show? My treat, of course."

"Looking to spend your fortune, Jack?" Will asked, rolling his eyes.

"Then there would be nothing left to leave _you_," Jack replied. Will started, eyes widening as he quickly looked at his father in disbelief. Until that moment he hadn't ever really _thought_ about the fact that he was in line to inherit Hench's billions on billions of dollars. Immediately greed sprang to his eyes and he grinned eagerly. "There's the greed right there," Jack said, chuckling and ruffling his son's hair.

"It's all _mine_?!" Will demanded, quickly walking alongside his father. The others exchanged knowing looks; _Bonnie_ certainly looked more intrigued, much to Senior Junior's distaste.

"Most of it," Jack confirmed, indulging his son. "Of course it goes to your mother first, then in the event of her death to you." Bonnie's interest died quickly and Will frowned, excitement leaving.

"Typical," he complained.

"If you killed off your mother you would have no one to wait for; but of course we both know you would never do _that_," Jack said, glaring warningly at his son.

"Who do you think I am, _you_?" Will demanded. Jack smirked and rolled his eyes affectionately.


	5. Hostage Situation

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

Hostage Situation!

Fukushima and Hirotaka stood in a gym area, Fukushima impatiently checking the time and Hirotaka warming up. Fukushima had promised Monique he would teach her some moves. He intended to keep that promise. Hirotaka, for his part, had promises of his own to keep regarding training up Amelia. Hirotaka leapt into the air repetitively, flipping or kicking each time before landing once again. He leapt backwards, diving through one of the rings they'd set up in this obstacle course they'd designed for the two girls. Landing on the other side and rolling, Hirotaka leapt to his feet and raced to a wall, running up it and flipping backwards.

"Hirotaka, together!" Fukushima called out. Hirotaka looked over and smirked. The two handsprung over to each other then began pulling off a variety of complex jumping and kicking moves in perfect sync.

"All right, I'm all ears," Monique said, entering with Amelia and looking ready to learn.

"Whoa!" Amelia exclaimed, observing the impressive display the two young men were putting on. Fukushima and Hirotaka finished their set of moves, smiled and nodded, then bowed to the two girls.

"There you are," Hirotaka greeted.

"You took long enough," Fukushima bit.

"Okay, where do we start?" Monique eagerly asked, rubbing her hands together.

"With locks," Hirotaka answered. "Simple, basic, and fairly easily grasped, some more than others." He spun suddenly, seizing Fukushima's hand and locking it, flipping the boy over his head. "That is called a Yubi Kudaki."

"And this is called revenge," Fukushima snapped, unimpressed with having been made the guinea pig. He immediately leapt up and seized Hirotaka, spinning his body and forcing him into a kneeling position, bending his wrist painfully. "At this point one firm hit will snap your opponent's wrist," Fukushima narrated, striking down and barely missing Hirotaka's hand. "You understand, brother?"

"Fair enough," Hirotaka said, gasping in pain through a laugh and struggling in the grasp of the other ninja. His wrist was starting to hurt. Fukushima let him go, fuming. Hirotaka grinned teasingly at him. "You should have been ready, Fukushima." Fukushima cursed him in Japanese and Hirotaka grinned wickedly. "As we were saying…"

KP

Soon enough Monique and Amelia had grasped the basics of a few basic locks; at least well enough to use them in a functioning manner. "These techniques will prove most useful in the event one is assailed and has no desire to kill," Fukushima said.

"Only maim," Hirotaka whimpered, holding a badly sprained arm. Fukushima's greatest weakness was that he had a tendency to become brutal and barbaric, turning incredibly violent and rough even in practice sessions. Fukushima had nearly broken many a sparring partner's bone, and had snapped without hesitation or regrets the limbs of ones who he considered his enemies. He would have to be a little more forceful in dealing with his friend from here on. When Fukushima was given too much leeway he always abused that power, _always_, sometimes to extreme degrees depending on his mood. However, if he increased _his_ power, Fukushima would back down.

"Gomen'nasai," Fukushima apologized, guiltily rubbing the back of his head.

"The martial arts, at least a good portion of them, were never traditionally meant to be used for violence. They were meant for defence, distraction, or escape. "That being said, let us try some basic evasive maneuvers," Hirotaka suggested.

"Ooh, ooh, some of those killer flips and wicked dodges?!" Monique enthusiastically asked.

"Um, not quite, Tigress; to perfect such moves as Hirotaka and I pull off would take years for you two. You have not been trained in any martial arts, Freerunning, or Parkour, after all," Fukushima replied.

"There are simple maneuvers that will not take overly long to learn, and they are often very effective," Hirotaka said.

"Let's start then," Amelia said. Hirotaka and Fukushima bowed again.

"Before we do, there is something important that you need to keep in mind," Fukushima warned. "However unhappy myself and Hirotaka have been with one another in the past, neither of us have technically had an unrestrained fight." Master Sensei and the other ninjas had always been there to pull them apart, he dryly added to himself. "Both of us held back, as difficult as it might be to realize from your position."

"Wait, you guys were holding back?!" Monique asked in astonishment. "That doesn't sound possible!"

"You misunderstand; we were indeed using a good portion of our full skill," Hirotaka corrected. "What Fukushima meant was that neither of us have ever fought one another with the intent to kill or maim." Lie, he inwardly added, but at the same time not. "You see, we were always held back by remnants of our friendship and memories of our past with each other that made us more reserved. I could never have lived with myself had I killed him."

"A real battle is not anything like what you see in movies," Fukushima stated more harshly than he intended. "It is not fun, it is not pleasant, and if you do it often enough, you will suffer consequences no matter how skilled you believe you are." Broken bones or other injuries that cumulated, mental and emotional scars, losses, on occasion death, etc.

"We know that," Amelia said.

"Right. It's not like we're gonna go around seeking out _fights_ or anything!" Monique exclaimed. "I just want to be able to defend myself." Not only that, but on the occasions she went on a mission with Kim, she often felt like more of a burden than an asset. If she knew how to fight, she could be of more assistance.

"We just want to give you the information you are going to need," Hirotaka stated, attempting to end the brewing argument. He knew Fukushima was being motivated by his worry for Monique, but she likely wouldn't see it that way. "To become truly skilled takes many years of training. How long did it take your friend Kim?"

"Uh, I think she once told me she first started taking classes when she was four years old," Monique replied.

"Remember it," Hirotaka said.

"So, what else are you going to show us?" Amelia questioned, starting to get impatient.

Sensing this, Hirotaka smirked. "Patience is one of the key traits you have to learn if you want to undertake this," he pointed out. "It took a great deal of discipline and dedication to get where I am today. However, there are numerous tricks that I can show you that will take little time."

"Other things to remember. Always cheat, always play dirty. Going 'mano a mano', I believe the phrase is? That is just sport, something for sparring. Real battles, especially with villains and criminals—and those will make up the majority of the people you face—will not fight that way. There is no such thing as a fair fight to them. If they cannot beat you in a straight battle, they will not try. In that world you always stack the deck in your favor. You get friends if you can, you ambush your target from behind, you use weapons, and you make _sure_ he does not get up. Such is the way of the shinobi. Honor belonged to the Samurai. Yamanouchi employs some Samurai tactics but is, at its core, based on the ninja ways. Ninja were spies and assassins and information gatherers, they were not heroes. There was no _room_ for them to be. They killed or were killed," Fukushima added.

"It is true. Not only that, but if the odds turn against you, you do your best to run unless you have no other choice. There is no cowardice, only practicality. So, do not train to win a martial arts tournament. Be prepared to maim or even kill your opponent should that prove necessary," Hirotaka added.

"Whoa, that's a little intense," Amelia remarked uneasily with eyes wide. Monique looked just as horrified.

"Wait, what about Shego? She's in that world, yet she's never tried those tricks on Kim or anybody else," Monique stated.

"It is often a personal challenge between the two of them," Fukushima explained, shrugging it off. "You might be surprised to see how she dispatches other opponents. As much as they dislike each other, I believe each one knows the other is not someone who will kill or seriously injure without a very, very good reason, and thus there is no need for such underhanded tactics. Of course that is not to say Shego has not _ever_ gotten particularly violent against Kim and vice versa." Like when Kim kicked Shego into an electric tower. "I myself much prefer the underhanded."

"Such tactics are only to be used under the most desperate of circumstances, Fukushima, remember that. They are not to be used as a first resort," Hirotaka scolded, knowing his friend's thoughts. "The result is not something you want on your conscience. I say this from experience." Fukushima practically sneered at Hirotaka's words. Humph, last resort indeed. Hah!

KP

"Finally we get some time alone," Kim said, grinning up at Ron as they walked hand in hand.

"I know. We've totally been so busy with all our friends and all the missions," Ron agreed.

"Food, food," Rufus chattered, pointing at the food court.

"All right, nachos!" Ron cheered. They weren't Nacos, but hey, who cared?

As they stood in line Kim frowned and looked around. Something seemed… off. "Hey Ron, is it just me or do you feel like we're being watched?"

"Watched? Who would be watching _us_? KP, getting a bit paranoid, don't you think?" Ron replied.

"Y-yeah, maybe," Kim replied, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was bound to go horribly, horribly wrong. Her instincts, honed from years of crime-fighting, were usually right.

KP

Zita, Junior, Felix, Bonnie, Justine, Ned, Josh, and Tara walked through the mall window shopping. "This is, like, so totally a shoppers _dream_!" Bonnie cheered as she and Tara gasped, going to the window of a high end purse shop.

"I totally want that," Tara said. "Amelia says that that bag brand is ridiculously expensive, though."

"I wish she was, like, here. There's no one better to go shopping with. Amelia totally knows every trend going around," Bonnie said.

"So does Monique," Tara offered.

"So not, Tara," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes; any friend of Kim's and all that.

"Whoa, creepy looking guy ten o'clock," Zita remarked, pointing.

"Zita? You're not usually one to judge a book by its _cover_," Felix remarked, slightly surprised.

"Neither am I, but _I_ don't like his looks _either_," Justine remarked, frowning suspiciously at the man. The others turned and saw him joined by another.

"Hey, yeah, it almost looks like they're…" Ned began.

All of a sudden the two men drew guns. "_Armed_!?" Junior exclaimed in horror. Although normally a coward, he immediately moved in front of Bonnie in order to shield her from any oncoming bullets.

"Down on the ground, down on the ground!" the two men yelled, firing shots into the air. Screams rang throughout the mall as more men came from out of nowhere drawing pistols and firing. They all hit the ground accordingly, shrieking and covering their heads.

"Oh my gosh, it's a hostage thing!" Bonnie shrieked.

"We're gonna die, we're gonna die!" Tara sobbed. Josh seized her, pulling her closely to him and watching around protectively.

KP

"Guns!" Ron and Kim exclaimed on hearing bullets being fired.

Suddenly two gunmen stood up and shouted, "Get down!" Ron screamed and hit the floor with Kim, who gaped on in horror. She would normally try to reach these guys, except they were looking right at her. She moved, she died, plain and simple. Her mind made all kinds of calculations, but ultimately they all reached the same conclusion. Perhaps she might be able to take one or two of them down, but the rest were more than capable of killing her.

KP

Will, who had been hanging out with Yori, Marcella, and Hope, whipped his head around as bullets were fired suddenly into the air where they were. "Get down!" he ordered the three. The sisters screamed, hitting the floor. Yori dropped into a fighting pose, whipping out a shuriken. Will immediately drew his gun and faced the two men, yelling, "GJ agent, freeze where you are and put your hands on your head!" They looked sharply over at him, eyes wide in disbelief. A government agent was the _last_ thing they'd been expecting. On seeing how young the boy was, though, they began to laugh.

"I will handle them, Will-San," Yori stated.

"Will, Yori!" Marcella screamed, catching sight of a man who her new friends hadn't noticed yet pointing a gun at them. Will cried out in pain as a bullet tore through his arm and collapsed to the ground, gaping in shock and holding the wound. Yori gasped, falling next to him in alarm and applying pressure to the bullet wound. Will looked fearfully around. Before either he or Yori could move, they, Hope, and Marcella were surrounded.

"Oh crap," Will muttered, subtly activating a distress signal on his belt that would summon GJ and his mother. Here was hoping it wouldn't malfunction.

KP

"What is that sound?" Fukushima suddenly asked in the middle of his and Hirotaka's practicing with Monique and Amelia.

They paused, listening. Amelia's eyes widened in horror as a shot rang out. "Guns!" she exclaimed.

"Come on!" Hirotaka ordered. The four ran for the doors and burst out. Hirotaka cried out in pain as a bullet grazed his leg. He stumbled, gasping in pain. An inch to the left and it would have severed his femoral artery, killing him in minutes. He mentally put a shield around himself to protect his person, although that was a skill he had not yet bothered to master. Shields had not been of much use to him before. He was regretting not mastering them now. He would need to work on that.

"Hirotaka!" Fukushima exclaimed, immediately dropping next to his friend along with a horrified Amelia and Monique. They heard guns being cocked and looked up quickly. They all swallowed, say for Hirotaka who just glared, on finding themselves staring down the barrel of some powerful pistols et al.

"At least Sensei and Hana are safe on the outside. Remember, brother, they went sightseeing," Fukushima assured Hirotaka, who appeared suddenly alarmed for some reason. Fukushima, of course, knew it had to do with his grandfather and his sisters. Hirotaka breathed a small sigh of relief, calming down.

KP

"And so, gentlemen, I propose…" Jack was saying. All at once the lights in the room went dark and alarms began wailing as emergency lights lit up. Immediately there was murmuring around the table. "Well _that_ can't be good," Jack muttered half to himself and half to the others.


	6. One by One

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: Second up today.)

One by One

Those who hadn't been able to get out of the mall—luckily comparatively few—were now herded into the center, onto the ice rink. With the activation of the alarms, there had been a moment of chaos in which many had fled, many had been shot dead, and many had just plain been shot and wounded. Some of these wounded had escaped, others were bleeding and in the middle of the remainder of the captives. Captives of which, unfortunately, consisted of Team Possible and Friends plus Junior—_that_ was quite a mouthful—all of whom had done a good job in helping _others_ escape, but not so much themselves. Then again, part of that was intentional. None of them were inclined to leave each other behind and this problem? Yeah, it had to be dealt with.

The group had found their way to each other now and were huddled quietly together. "GJ will be on their way," Will murmured to Kim. He had used his shirt as a tourniquet, but blood was continuing to ooze from his wound. Loss of blood was also impairing his judgement.

"Really?" she asked.

"Distress signal," Will explained, pointing at his belt. Considering it hadn't malfunctioned.

"Spankin'," Kim replied, smiling and giving him a thumbs up. They stopped interacting as the men holding the guns began pacing around the rink.

"Why are they _after_ us?" Zita fearfully asked, voice cracking with fear. Felix held her close as she sat on his lap. Junior was protectively cradling a shivering and terrified Bonnie in his arms. Tara was sobbing against Josh's chest.

"I only wish we could know the answer," Yori gravely replied. It had been twenty minutes since they had been taken hostage. The RCMP—police force of Canada—were there along with SWAT. Families of the hostages inside were gathered outside of the police lines weeping and in some instances praying for their loved ones.

KP

A phone rang and the leader of the group who had taken them hostage picked it up, saying, "About time."

"What are your demands?" the negotiator on the other end asked, getting right to the point.

"None that _you_ can meet; see, it's not you or anything out there that we're after," the man answered, smirking coldly. "I hear there's a little conference going on in this mall somewhere, plenty of businessmen from the arms industry gathering together for a bit of a party. The problem is we can't get to them. So, now we take extreme measures. For every hour that the man we want doesn't come out to face us, a hostage dies. Start reasoning with him, or people start dying."

"Who do you want to speak to?" the negotiator asked.

"Jack Hench," the man answered. With that he hung up.

KP

Meanwhile, in the room where the gun executives were gathered—most panicking, some sitting numbly in shock, and others just sitting hopelessly—Jack paced back and forth, ponderously stroking his chin. Something didn't sit well with him here. Something just wasn't right with this whole situation. Why did he feel like everything centered on _him_? A phone in the room rang and Jack paused. He looked at it. The others looked up as well. He was closest. They were looking at him to answer. Finally he put the phone on speaker. "Hello?" he asked.

"Is this the conference?" the voice on the other end asked.

"It is. Who is _this_?" Jack replied.

"A negotiator," the man answered. Jack stiffened. "There's been a hostile takeover of the mall. Around fifty hostages have been taken. Of these at least five are wounded."

"The death toll?" Jack asked.

"Too many. Fifteen confirmed, but there'll be more," the man answered.

"Oh gods!" one of the other men, Hope and Marcella's father Jack knew now, exclaimed, sobbing and covering his mouth. Terror was plain in his expression as he shook his head in denial. "Hope, Marcella!" he cried out, almost panicking. The others held him still.

Jack felt a cold sense of dread shoot through him. Will had been walking around the mall. After a long moment Jack asked, "What do they want?" After all, there was a reason the negotiator was calling _them_. He had a bad feeling about this.

"They want a man named Jack Hench to go out there and have an audience with them," the negotiator said.

Jack was silent a long moment. Finally he said, "Well that's going to be a problem. I have no intentions of carrying out an audience." Laugh, laugh, he knew full well what it would _really_ be. It would be an execution. If his suspicions as to who had shown up here looking for him were correct… Long story short, he didn't want to have to deal with them.

"They say they'll execute one hostage for every hour you don't show up," the negotiator gravely stated. The other men began to murmur in fear. "What is your association with these men, Mr. Hench?"

Jack inwardly cursed. After a moment he replied, "I honestly don't know. I have multiple retailers across the globe selling my products. HenchCo has guidelines, ethical codes, and precautions we try and carry out, but ultimately who _they_ deal with is out of my control. I can only do so much; fire them if I ever find out, turn them in to the authorities if the crime is befitting, take action to cancel all future dealings with the unsavory parties, things like that." All of which he did… on most occasions.

"I'm trying to negotiate with the leader of the group, but he won't speak to anyone but you," the negotiator said.

"Tell him that if he wants to talk, he can call me at this number," Jack replied. Quickly he recited the number of a multi-call disposable cellphone he had on him—he always kept one in case of situations like this; after all they were next to impossible to trace—and hung up. Now all they could do was wait. He looked back at the others.

"Marcella, Hope," the father of the two girls was lamenting, rocking back and forth as he buried his head in his knees.

"Everything's going to work out," Jack assured.

Miserably, angrily, the man looked up at him and replied, "If either of my babies end up dead or killed, I'm holding _you_ personally _responsible_." Judging by the looks of the other businessmen who had had family here with them, he wasn't alone in that. Jack frowned guardedly. This was bad. If something wasn't done soon, the gunmen waiting for him would be the _least_ of his worries. He would be turned on by those he was _stuck_ with. Just then his—rather _a_—cellphone rang. He opened it immediately.

KP

"What do you think you're doing?" Jack icily greeted, bringing it to his ear.

"Hello to you _too_, Mr. Hench," the leader of the masked men replied. Jack moved away from the others into a private corner where no cameras could catch his face. And by extension, no lip readers could read his _lips_.

"Just what is it you hope to _gain_, my friend?" Jack growled lowly. "I gave you the terms of the agreement, you signed the contracts, and I told you exactly how to use the weapons and when. I gave you everything I possibly could within the realms of the law. I stuck my neck out in the open. Anything you could have possibly needed to make your little scheme work I provided. The only thing I _didn't_ do was hold your hand or get directly involved and _still_ you managed to screw it up. That failure is on _your_ head. You know how I operate. _My_ hands stay clean, _my_ business stays my own. What happens in the confines of my office, _stay_ in the confines of my office. You leave you're on your own."

"Don't play that game with me, Hench. You sold us out!" the man barked sharply, though he made sure none of the hostages could hear. The kid who had claimed to be a government agent seemed intent on listening in on what was being said. He could keep dreaming. "I knew it was too easy. You got away with sticking your neck out because the authorities _let_ you."

"That is _not_ true!" Jack shot sharply.

He recalled this little event that the bigwig of the operation currently taking hostages was talking about. Jack had been working with the authorities more often than was safe for him considering some of his clients, during that period of time, and had been starting to feel dependant on them and their resources. Admittedly, he was getting quite spoiled, undoubtedly an attempt on his wife's part to try and reward him for doing good, thus baiting him to her side. That wouldn't do, so he had carried out _this_ little betrayal on his _own_. He virtually never dealt with clients, preferring instead to hide behind a mask of invisibility; no one knew his face, no one knew his voice, no one knew his name. The choice few he'd made exceptions for… _These_ men he had been leaning more towards handing off to GJ. Of course he hadn't really expected them to fail as badly as they _had_; in fact Jack had just been doing it to practice. He'd even warned the authorities late. Again, of his own accord, not because of some plan he'd been involved in with them. Had the idiots working this little crime syndicate been able to keep a timetable, they would have gotten away Scott free. As it was they had been minutes behind in everything. He supposed he was being harsh, after all this gang was _not_, repeat _not_, to be underestimated and trifled with under any circumstances, but come on. _How_ had they botched the job like that?

"You thought you could get away with it. Get away with it like you get away with everything else," the Smuggling Leader said. "You made a fatal mistake, Mr. Hench. You let us know your name, you let us see your face, you let us uncover the mysterious legend behind the man. The thing about legends is they die, fading away into memory. Your number is up. You don't come out before every hostage is dead, we'll find a way to you, mark our words. We'll find a way if we have to burn this mall to the ground with you _inside_."

Jack's eyes were glittering dangerously. "You've got _no_ idea what you're messing with here, boy," he calmly and coldly stated.

The man on the other end was silent. After a moment he replied, "One hour's almost up, Jack. Congratulations, you've just signed an innocent's death warrant."

Jack didn't even flinch as the gun went off and screaming and sobbing was heard on the other end as someone died. He rolled his eyes and boredly checked his watch. Hmm, an hour on the button. "So you _can_ tell time," Jack muttered, though whether the man on the other end heard or not was a mystery to him.

"Young female, twenty-five to thirty, wounded already. She was a pretty thing, auburn hair, big doe eyes," the man narrated.

"And you think I care. How sweet," Jack said incredulously. "I had you pegged from the start. This little hostage plot of yours will fail _just_ like your smuggling plan did."

"We'll see," the man replied. With that he hung up. Jack scoffed and hung up as well.

KP

"They shot her, they shot her!" a hostage was hysterically screaming.

"Get a _grip_, woman!" a man ordered, shaking her roughly.

"KP, they killed her! They killed her!" Ron freaked. Kim was pale. The woman had been right in front of her. Right in front of her and she couldn't _save_ her.

"Oh, they're _so_ gonna pay," Monique stated, eyes glittering dangerously. "Why don't you three ninjas pull of some of your sick moves and take these freaks _out_?"

"Yeah, you guys can turn invisible and have those shield thingies and everything!" Ron insisted.

"Plot convenience," Senior Junior said with a smile.

"Shut up, Junior," Will bit at him, not in the mood for humor.

"What? It is true!" Junior insisted.

"We are near the center of the ice rink, the men are marching around the edges with big weapons. All we have are our bare hands, a shuriken Yori carries, and a Tessan fan, none of which have the range of a rifle or any sort of firearm," Fukushima answered. "Besides, though not as badly hurt as Du-San, Hirotaka _was_ hurt enough that it would hinder his capabilities. Yori and I are hindered by worry. Invisibility and mental shields take undivided concentration." Not entirely true, but true enough in this case. They'd all been getting lazy and therefore rusty in their abilities. They would need a serious practice session with Master Sensei when this was all said and done. All of them were constantly waiting for an opportunity, but the gunmen were at least competent in their chosen field.

"We are searching for a way, Monique. Opportunity will always present itself at some point," Hirotaka stated, eagle eyes scanning for any opening.

"I wish we could let daddy know we're okay," Hope said, voice breaking.

"He must be terrified," Marcella, calmer than her sister, agreed, gently patting her twin's shoulder. Hopelessly she looked at Will, eyes pained. He cringed on seeing the sadness there. He didn't believe he liked seeing Marcella look at him like that, so helpless, so resolved, so brave but scared at the same time. Will shifted uncomfortably and subtly reached for his cellphone. Maybe he could contact his father on the sly… As soon as he got the chance, that was. Ugh, if nothing else he'd at least been able to treat his and Hirotaka's gunshot wounds. He was still weak from blood loss, though.

KP

Five hours and four hostages later, Jack was just _waiting_ for news of the next shot being fired. _Where_ was GJ? Will's distress signal would have gone off. He stiffened, eyes widening. Unless… unless Will was dead. A moment of despair and panic came to his eyes. He rose swiftly and began restlessly pacing again, eyes flickering with emotions. The last hostage to die… He'd nearly had a heart-attack as the Smuggler had described the young man. It had been an almost exact description of Will. The difference was the young man they had killed last had worn glasses and had _black_ hair.

All at once his personal cellphone rang. He stiffened, sharply looking down. Oh no, gods please no. Please tell him his son hadn't… Jack picked up the phone and went pale. It was Will's number! Outwardly he remained calm. Inwardly he was arguing viciously over whether to answer or not. He had to know if his child was safe. If Will wasn't, though, then the boy was risking his life by trying to contact him. He had to warn his son to stop. On the other hand, answering might give the boy away. Jack closed his eyes tightly and ignored the call. His disposable rang shortly after and he picked it up.

"Who died?" he bitterly asked.

"Dad?" a voice replied. Jack nearly freaked.

"Will!" he exclaimed in alarm. Damn! Multi-use disposable phones were officially off his list unless he was using them for only one day. This one he'd hung onto a bit longer than most. Now he was regretting it. "What are you doing? Are you out of your mind? I swear, if you're one of the hostages and risking actually trying to _talk_ to me…"

"What do they want, dad?" Will fearfully asked, voice scared. To hear his son scared silenced Jack for a good long moment. The boy was a hostage, he _had_ to be. His heart plummeted in terror.

Jack sighed deeply through the nose. "Why did you call?" he asked, avoiding the question.

"Hope and Marcella, they wanted their father to know they were alive," Will replied.

Jack looked over at the still weeping man and said, "Donald, quit with the waterworks, your girls are still alive."

He looked sharply up. "Is that them? Are you speaking to them?" the man urgently questioned.

"No, I'm speaking to a friend of theirs," Jack replied.

"Let me talk to my daughters!" the man begged.

"If you want them shot, then sure," Jack replied, offering the phone. The man froze in place and made no move. "I didn't think so," Jack muttered. Turning attention back to the conversation, he said, "Will, hang up now, before they catch you." All at once there was a loud bang! "Will!" Jack cried out, and immediately the others knew who he was talking to. He had spoken in hushed tones until now. The moment he cried out his son's name, they backed off, paling. Oh, this had just become painfully personal for Jack Hench if that boy was dead or a hostage.

"Oh my god, dad, they shot a security guard this time!" Will exclaimed.

"Hang up, _now_! They'll be calling this number in a second!" Jack ordered.

"What do they _want_, Jack? Hench, I swear if you're in the middle of this…" Will began.

"Please, please, _hang_ up!" Jack begged, literally begged. Will was taken aback by the tone in his father's voice, and terrified.

"Answer me!" Will demanded.

"They want _me_!" Jack yelled angrily. Will caught his breath and fell silent. "They want me," Jack repeated.

There was a moment of quiet. Finally Will said, "Dad, we have to get these people _out_ of here."

"William Du, if you try _anything_…" Jack began. The phone was hung up and Jack cursed under his breath. The next second the phone rang again. Jack took a deep breath, composing himself, and answered, flatly asking, "What?"

"Security guard, middle-aged woman," the man on the other end said.

Jack was silent a long moment, for the first time seriously pondering going out there. Finally, though, he replied, "You think five dead is any skin off _my_ back? Forget it." He hung up, but he knew with increasing certainty that his words were becoming falser and falser, harder to say without giving a sign of lying. Every hour that passed was another hour his son might not survive and another hour the odds rose that Will would be next. He'd never been a fan of Devil's Advocate or Russian Roulette. He steeled himself. If things didn't start swinging in his favor soon, then this really _was_ only the beginning.


	7. Leverage

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: This story was a really short one, so there are only like three more chapters, which will probably go up today. Sorry for the length, but education stuff is killing me right now. Can't wait until I can work on improving Ron's MMP skills, though. Again, possibly next installment and a little bit in this one.)

Leverage

"I want all the information on Jack Hench that you can _find_," the head of the gunmen ordered of one of his men, who was now pouring over a computer.

"There's nothing _here_, sir," the man replied. "Nothing we don't already know. He's in the arms business, he runs HenchCo, one of the top ten richest people in the world, voted most charismatic and influential businessmen of our time, named one of the world's top 100 most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes… There's nothing. I mean he's not gonna be in line for any Humanitarian of the Year awards anytime soon, given the nature of his business, but other than that there's not even a _link_ to any possible shady dealings or blackmail worthy material." The head of the ring cursed out loud, pacing restlessly. "Sir, I'd doubt his name was even _Jack_ if I didn't have a birth-certificate in front of me now."

"That's it! Search for his name on Birth-Certificates," the man ordered.

"There's only one birth certificate a man can _have_. His parents died years ago, we won't get anything to hold over his head through them anyway," the other said.

"If they were _alive_ I doubt we would. The man hasn't even batted an eyelash at the falling hostages; he'd probably leave his parents out to rot as well," the leader stated. "No, search for names of any children born _to_ him."

"He's a bachelor," the underling doubtfully replied. "At least according to these records."

"Just because you're a bachelor doesn't mean you've never gotten it on," the leader shot.

"I'll try," the gunman on the computer said. "I've hacked the hospital databases in Middleton, one of the towns in which he works… Wait… I've got it! There _was_ a child born to him, a little boy named William Sheldon Hench, middle name tentative."

"I want information on that kid," the leader said.

"I'm already ahead of you," the man replied. In a few seconds a photo of a child was brought up. "I can digitally age it to about eighteen years, around what he would be now, just give me a second."

"Hiring an ex-cop and hacker onto this team was the wisest decision I've ever made. Good man," the leader praised, clapping his friend on the shoulder. In a few moments the image was brought up. Slowly the lips of both men parted. "No way," the leader said.

Sharply the two looked up towards a certain group near the middle of the ice rink. "Well, well, well, our little agent boy is the only son of Jack Hench," the hacker remarked.

"If _that_ isn't leverage, I don't know what _is_. We have him. This is the hour in which Jack Hench _dies_," the leader declared. He stood up and approached the ice, rifle cocked and readied.

KP

Sensei looked on worriedly at the mall, fear in his eyes. Hirotaka, Yori… They were both inside… and Fukushima… He needed to contact his students. He needed to ensure they were still _alive_. Fukushima was very headstrong. Hirotaka was not always able to calm his friend from such wrath and impulsiveness. "Ron, Ron," Rufus chattered fearfully, gazing at the mall, big eyes filled with tears. He'd managed to scamper out in time to avoid being captured, at Ron's insistence. Now he was regretting it.

"Do not fear, Rufus-san, Stoppable-san will be safe," Sensei promised. Rufus whimpered and curled up on a sleeping Hana. Sensei closed his eyes tightly and reached out to his students. Perhaps they would connect to him. He would not try to reach Stoppable-san. Ron had a tendency to panic in such situations which would only spell the young man's death. The others, though, were used to it. "Hirotaka, Yori, Fukushima," he muttered.

Hirotaka, Yori, and Fukushima all started and exchanged looks. "It is Master," Yori whispered.

"Then we must assure him we still live," Fukushima said. The three closed their eyes, meditating. Soon enough they reached the peaceful area in which Sensei sat.

"Sensei!" Hirotaka greeted in relief. The three went over to the old man and sat in front of him.

"It is good that you are all safe. With all the hostages that have been killed…" Sensei began. He shook his head.

"They cannot kill us all. They still need leverage until they have what they want," Yori replied.

"Which is…" Sensei began.

"Jack Hench," Fukushima answered.

"I see," Sensei gravely said, stroking his moustache worriedly. "Do not let the men have you. If they try and take you, fight back with all you have. I will not have your blood on my hands."

"We search, even now, for an opening, Master Sensei," Hirotaka replied.

"You will not find one standing still," Sensei said.

"We cannot _move_. They are too heavily armed," Yori said, bowing her head low.

"Invisibility or shields?" Sensei asked. They three looked a little guilty. Sensei frowned. "I cautioned you not to let such skills slip," he chided. The old man sighed. "We will be practicing again when you are all safe and well."

"Hai, Sensei," they said together, bowing.

"For now this is indeed worse than I hoped," Sensei said. "Do what you see fit, students. I cannot help you this time. I have faith you will be victorious."

"Domo, Master," they all said together, bowing to him again. With that they returned to reality.

Ron, looking concerned, asked, "What was that about?"

"We needed to let Sensei know that the four of us were alive, Stoppable-kun," Yori replied.

"Did he give any advice?" Ron hopefully asked.

"No," Yori said, bowing her head sadly. At least none they could follow right now. "We are on our own."

"Aw man, this _tanks_," Ron moaned. Sensei was like the wisest man he knew! If he didn't' know what to do, they were really in trouble. Maybe his worry for his grandchildren was impairing his judgement.

KP

Just then one of the men called, "You there!" Immediately the Cheer Squad, and friends, turned, eyes wide. The men were looking at _them_!

"One of us is going to die. _No_…" Tara breathed fearfully, pulling tightly into Josh's chest and burying her head there. He held her defensively. He would die to protect her, if he had to. Junior pulled Bonnie close, glaring challengingly at the men. If these people thought they would get away with his murder, or hers, they were sorely mistaken. His pappy would deal with them with a vengeance untold.

"Agent boy," the head tauntingly called out. Will started and paled.

"_Me_?" Will asked tightly. Marcella gasped, holding his arm tighter. Junior shot a concerned look over at his friend.

"Come here," the man ordered. "Come here or we drag you."

"Will, don't do it!" Kim pled. "We'll find a way out of this."

"I… I don't think they're looking to kill me yet," Will said. He wasn't sure, but it was just something about it. Most of the people they had gunned down had been shot without the men calling them forward. Why should _he_ be different?

"Dude, _so_ not worth the risk!" Felix exclaimed in alarm. Regardless, Will approached the group cautiously. Reaching the edges of the ice rink they pulled him up and out. Maybe he was being selected to deliver a message to the outside? Yeah, right.

The others watched tensely. "Recognize this?" the leader of the group asked, bringing forth the computer. One of his men opened it and Will blanched. His birth certificate!

"Oh my god!" he exclaimed. Immediately he tried to pull away, to make a break for it, to _something_. Before he could, though, they seized him. "Let me go, let me go!" Will begged. "It's a lie, he's not my father, I don't even _know_ the man!" Immediately the others paled, gasping. Jack Hench! They'd figured out Will was Jack's son!

"Will, no!" Kim cried out.

"Oh this is bad," Ned tightly said.

"They won't kill him, they _can't_," Justine denied, almost in a panic.

"They want Jack too badly for that," Zita gravely stated. "At least for now." What was left unsaid was that in this case, death might be a _mercy_.

"Wait, where are the ninjas?" Justine asked, looking around. The others started and looked. Hirotaka, Yori, and Fukushima were gone! Kim looked over at Ron, hoping he'd seen them, and started. His eyes were sparkling with a bluish tinge. He was tapping into his powers, she realized. Whether he would use them or not was another question entirely, but it was a good step forward if nothing else. He glanced over at her and nodded. He knew where the ninjas were.

KP

Will, arms jerked painfully behind his back, whimpered as the leader began to dial a number. "You're making a _mistake_!" he tried in vain to warn.

"You could have saved a lot of lives, kid, if you'd told the truth," the leader stated.

"Please, please, you don't know what he's _capable_ of," Will pled, voice cracking. In honesty, though, he was afraid for his father, _not_ for himself. He tried to convince them otherwise, but he knew it was in vain. His father would come… His father would die and it would be all his _fault_…

"We're very aware," the leader said. Will closed his eyes tightly, looking down.

"Who was it that died _this_ time?" Jack's voice questioned boredly from the other end.

"Say hello," the leader said to Will, holding the phone over. Will said nothing. "Say hello or one of your friends dies," the leader warned, aiming a gun at Ned. Ned paled, catching his breath. Justine gasped, hugging him tightly.

"Hello?" Jack asked again, unaware of what was happening on the other end.

"Dad!" Will sobbed.

KP

Jack stiffened, his grip on the phone tightening so quickly and strongly that he thought he heard a crunch. He stopped squeezing. He was silent a long moment. Finally he said uncertainly, "Will?"

"Don't come, dad, don't come, they'll _kill_ you, don't come for me!" Will screamed desperately. He cried out in pain as he was struck viciously.

"William!" Jack exclaimed, skin ashen.

"Hear that? That's right. We figured out your little secret," the leader of the group of gunmen growled lowly, grinning in satisfaction. "Now, normally I would give you an hour. Not this time. You have five minutes to get out of that room you're in and run like Death itself is on your tail to get here in time to save your boy. Your time starts now." Jack hardly needed to think. He threw down the phone and bolted from the room. The other men knew immediately what had happened and closed their eyes tightly, guilt and sadness pulling at them.

"Don't come, dad, don't!" they heard the boy's voice begging on the other end. Marcella and Hope's father, Donald, approached.

"It's too late, kid, your dad's gone," he said. With that he hung up, and Will's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.

KP

Jack raced through the mall quickly. Suddenly three figures leapt down in front of him. He slid to a stop, gasping, then blinked. The ninjas! He relaxed. "I have to go," Jack said to them simply.

"Hai, we know," Yori answered. "We will come with you in secret."

"I won't have my son in danger," Jack replied.

"He will be saved," Hirotaka promised. "Do you have a plan?"

Jack pulled out a device and tossed it into the air, catching it again. He pressed a button and holographic figures of him that looked shockingly real appeared, surrounding the ninjas. The lips of the holograms moved in sync with Jack's. "One of my oldest tricks from back in the day. Like they say, the old ways are the best ways. Kid, I _always_ have a plan. I have to in my profession," Jack replied, making the clones vanish. "Plans all the way down to Z and into the Greek Alphabet," he added jokingly. The ninjas nodded then disappeared seemingly into thin air. Jack was left wondering if it was seriously some sort of magic or just a trick of the eyes that was a well-kept secret of the ninja clans of old. He kept running towards the ice rink.


	8. Busted

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: Second up today.)

Busted

"Looks like daddy isn't showing up _after_ all," one man remarked.

"This kid is our best bargaining chip. We should extend the time," another agreed.

"He'll come," the leader confidently said. "Shoot Jack down as he does."

"Too late for _that_," a voice said from behind. The man spun around only to find himself looking into Jack Hench's smouldering black eyes.

The leader smirked in amusement. "You just made it," he said. "Bring the boy forward." Will struggled as they pulled him towards his father.

Blinking up at the man with wide eyes, Will whimpered. "Why did you have to come?" he asked, his voice weak. "They would have _waited_."

"It's a rare thing, when I bet. I'm not a gambling man, son, and you were _not_ a stake I was willing to risk," Jack replied. He was willing to lose a lot of things, but _not_ his child.

"How touching," the leader of the gunmen snidely stated. "It won't save you. Get on your knees." Roughly the men pushed Jack to his knees. Jack winced ever so slightly but didn't cry out. Will tried to struggle again. He was an excellent fighter, one of the best in GJ, but right now he was injured, he was in a bad position, his friends had weapons pointed at them, and his father was looking at execution. Will felt more helpless than he had in years and years. "Hands on your head!" the man ordered. Jack complied as casually as anything.

"You're making the biggest mistake of your life," Jack warned calmly. He felt a gun being pressed against the back of his head.

"Tell me; what are you going to do when you're dead?" the man answered.

"I'm not going anywhere," Jack replied.

"Oh no? We'll see," the man said, cocking the gun. Jack closed his eyes.

"Dad, dad, no!" Will cried, struggling to reach his father. "Don't!" he screamed as the sound of a bullet echoed through the mall. To the shock of everyone, the image vanished into thin air!

"What?" the leader exclaimed in shock. "Where _is_ he?"

"I warned you," Jack said from behind. The man spun only to see him standing up alive and well. To his shock a number of other Jack's began to circle them!

"Holograms!" Will exclaimed in shock. And somewhere amongst them all there was his father. He didn't think on it long, though. Hench had given them an opening!

KP

The ninjas suddenly dropped from above, clad in black so their identities would not be seen by others. They immediately began to fight the gunmen without even a second thought. They had weak shields up! It had taken a serious push to get them to recall how to do it, namely Will being grabbed, but the point was they were up now and giving them a distinct advantage. Not as great as it could be if they were up to speed, but good nonetheless. Will suddenly whirled, taking the men holding him by surprise. He wrestled their guns away and fired at one of the gunmen who cried out in pain, falling against the glass of the ice rink. Immediately Kim, Ron, Monique, and Amelia leapt into action, racing through the crowds and leaping over the glass to reach Will's side and help him. "Guys, get the hostages out!" Kim called back to the others. Quickly they hurried to obey amongst the screaming of the people. All of them were ready for a fight, but at the same time acutely aware of the danger they were in.

Team Possible took on as many guns as they could, weakening the enemy's arsenal as much as they possibly were able to given the circumstances. "Dude, when did your dad get _holograms_?" Ron—who, by the way, was unashamed to say he was really on his game today and kicking major butt—demanded of Will.

"He's had them for years. He's used them before quite a few times," Will answered. "They're decoys, almost life-like, the epitome of HenchCo technology. The trouble with them is that sometimes the person they're imitating can actually feel the pain the holograms would theoretically feel. They're tapped into his brainwaves, in a way. Programmed to be like him in almost every way."

"So if we see a guy cringing, we know it's the real Jack," Kim said.

"Basically. The holograms don't last long, though. Soon they'll fade and they'll know who my father is! We have to stop them before that happens or be ready to defend Jack when things start going south," Will urgently replied, looking around at the flickering holograms. "Dad? Dad!" he called out fearfully.

Monique, using some of the moves Hirotaka and Fukushima had taught, managed to catch a guy, lock him, and shove him down. She kicked him in the head so he wouldn't be getting back up. "That ain't no ninja technique, _that's_ called _improv_," she taunted the dazed man.

Amelia too was finding use for the moves Hirotaka and Fukushima had taught. Neither she nor Monique were actively involved in the fighting. They were more off to the side grabbing and taking on stragglers, trying to find Hench. They weren't skilled enough to get into actual battle yet, but they were good enough to defend themselves now. Hirotaka and Fukushima had told them most of the moves they'd taught had been from the martial art Aikido which was primarily defence. Kind of a 'peaceful way', she believed. She scanned for Jack. The holograms were beginning to flicker.

"Dad! Dad!" Will called desperately out. They would vanish any second! All at once one of the holograms put a firm hand on his shoulder. Wait, it wasn't a hologram! He looked quickly to the side, eyes wide and frightened. It was his father! "GJ is coming," Jack quietly said.

"About time. We have to get you out of here. Come on," Will insisted.

Jack smirked in amusement. "Don't worry about me, kiddo. Worry about yourself and your friends," he murmured gently. "It's me they want. Go. Get the hostages and your allies out. Leave the distraction to _me_."

"I'm not leaving!" Will shot back, immediately disarming one of the gunmen who had figured out what was going on. Swiftly he knocked the threat to his father unconscious and put the gun in his father's hands. "You know how to use it. Do what you have to do to stay alive. I see nothing."

Jack chuckled, shaking his head as his son darted off to help his friends who were fighting. "I'll do what I have to do to keep _you_ living and breathing, son," he murmured aloud. He turned on those who had taken these hostages and began shooting without hesitation.

KP

The hostages were out and so were most of their friends. The only ones remaining now were Kim, Ron, Will, Hirotaka, Fukushima, Yori, Monique, and Amelia. Jack went without saying, but there were only five more holograms of him left besides he himself… And they were all surrounded. "Can we take them?" Amelia questioned as the group stood back to back in a small circle.

"We can take them," Monique stated.

"Calm yourself, Tigress. Do not move. They are too armed for us to risk," Fukushima said. Had it been only him, Yori, and Hirotaka, they would have gone for it. The less you had to worry about, the more efficient you could be. Perhaps they would have even tried if Kim and Ron had also been nearby, and perhaps Will, but it _wasn't_ just them. It would be safer for them all to hope for the best. He saw the direness of the situation, and for once he was playing the part of level-headed. Hirotaka was grateful for that. It would normally be Fukushima to test the odds. It was good that Monique was here. Fukushima was playing it safe for her sake, thus calming his own wild nature to ensure she would be protected.

"We're going to die," Ron realized in fear, his eyes wide. The hostages were gone and they had fought back. That was not something people like this would overlook. The moment they had fought back they were dead to rights. There would be no escape for them. Not even should Jack Hench decide to play noble and offer himself as a sacrifice... Which he wouldn't. Come on. It was Hench. Or maybe he would for Will? Not that it mattered. Point was it wouldn't do them any good anymore.

"No we aren't," Kim replied, getting into a fighting position. If this was a last stand, it would _be_ a last stand. Ron swallowed and nodded, eyes narrowing. His hands began lighting up with the blue glow. The Mystical Monkey Powers. He could use them. This battle would be as good as theirs. No _way_ were they hurting KP! The ninjas were watching dubiously. It was apparent they didn't think this was a good idea, but they would jump in, probably, if something went wrong.

"I told you to get out," Jack hissed to Will, scowling at him.

"I said no. I couldn't," Will replied, eyes fixed on the ground helplessly. He wouldn't meet his father's eyes. He didn't want to. He didn't know why that was. Perhaps he didn't want reproach and disgust to be the last things he knew of his father before they died. He looked up at his sire. Then again… "Dad… what about mom…?"

Jack was silent a long moment. Finally he replied, "She'll see you alive again."

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" Will challenged.

"Look up," Jack replied. Will started and looked quickly up. His eyes widened. A GJ jet was hovering above the mall! He grinned widely then gasped on hearing the guns cocking. Sharply he looked towards the gunmen surrounding them. Mass execution, he realized. Tightly he swallowed, willing his mother to hurry up.

SMB

The last of the holograms faded. Jack inwardly cursed. Will's distress signal had taken far longer to reach GJ than it should have. If he survived this he'd be sure to make a generous donation towards GJ's safety equipment; and he'd provide his son with his _own_ distress signal. One that wouldn't fail this miserably. Roughly they seized him, dragging him forward. He looked more put out than scared. The forced him to his knees and put a gun to his head. There would be no words spoken. It was now or never. The gun was cocked.

"No, dad!" Will cried out. Ron was about ready to lunge when…

A bullet rang out. Will caught his breath. The man who had dropped was not his father. The would-be executioner lay on the ground writhing in pain and clutching his arm. Ron froze, eyes wide. "GJ, freeze where you are!" Dr. Director's voice ordered sharply from behind.

"Mo… I mean Dr. Director!" Will exclaimed in relief. Jack breathed a sigh. Thank the gods for _this_ timely intervention.

"Get on the ground, get on the ground!" Dr. Director furiously ordered. The gunmen looked, for a moment, ready to fight back; or at the very least shoot Jack Hench dead. They had him point blank range. "Lower your weapon or so help me I will shoot you," Director calmly ordered, her eyes dangerously narrowed. If they dared shoot _her_ man…

"The young ones are none of our concern. You can have them, no bloodshed," the leader said.

"And in exchange?" Director challenged, eyes narrowed.

"Jack Hench," they said.

"No deal. Hench is mine," she replied.

"Hench will die if we have to die _with_ him," the leader simply answered.

"You don't want to test me," Dr. Director icily stated. "Whatever he's done, we'll deal with him in accordance with the law."

"By all means, tell her what I've done," Jack challenged the group of hostage takers, eyes darkening as he glared dangerously at his wife. Really? She was trying this _now_? Well, too bad for her that wouldn't fly… he hoped. Honestly, he'd never been in a more compromising position than this for… Oh gods, it had been years. Betty was a very, very, _very_ good negotiator if she had to be. Perhaps even enough so that she really _would_ be able to convince them to talk. This was bad. _Very_ bad.

SMB

There was an intense silence all around. "I find the law's brand of justice is sad, to say the least. I'll take my chances with death," he replied. With that he took aim again. Will was done playing idle. Immediately he leapt forward and tackled the man with a battle cry, knocking him to the ground. "Will!" Director and Jack cried out at the same time, terrified. Will elbow dropped the man's chest viciously and snatched the gun, wrestling for it. Ron, Kim, the ninjas, and GJ leapt forward, immediately attempting to disarm the gunmen before GJ's youngest agent or his friends ended up shot.

Jack swore out loud and surged forward. Neither Will nor the gunman was letting it go. The gunman was managing to get the upper hand, slowly moving the gun so that it would aim at Will. Jack scowled and seized his son roughly around the waist, yanking him away from the gun and the gunman. He cried out in pain as a bullet sounded and fell to the ground, clutching his side with a grimace of pain.

"Dad!" Will cried out in alarm. Monique suddenly lunged forward and took down the gunman, utilizing a move Hirotaka and Fukushima had taught her and Amelia.

"_Man_ that felt good!" she angrily said.

"And therein lies the danger," Amelia said, reminding Monique of what Hirotaka and Fukushima had warned them about. Monique started and blushed awkwardly.

"Jack…" Dr. Director breathed in fear. Her husband had gotten to his knees and one hand. He was clutching his side tightly. He looked up at her and offered a rueful smile, shaking his head.

"No dice, love," he said. He wasn't going to be that easy to down.

KP

The perpetrators were arrested, the bodies removed. Jack was on a stretcher, pale from blood loss. "What are you, _crazy_?!" Will furiously demanded of his father, infuriated beyond all comprehension. "I had him!"

"Oh no you didn't," Jack replied, rolling his eyes at his son; and that was true. He'd seen all too well the trick the gunman had been utilizing to get that gun pointed at the boy.

"What do _you_ know?!" Will snapped sharply.

"Will, stop aggravating your father," Betty sharply chastised, coming up to them.

"Well _someone_ has to lecture him!" Will shot.

"That is not the child's job, Agent Du. Stand down. Jack, what were you thinking?!" she demanded. Will blinked blankly at his mother then cringed, slipping away. His mother's wrath was more than he could ever _hope_ to capture.

"It was step in or bury our son," Jack replied, shrugging. Director bit her lower lip. She wanted to protest, but she knew her husband better. Jack would not have carried out such rash action unless he was _damn_ sure that he was correct.

"You bastard," Betty murmured, shaking her head bitterly at him.

"Thank you, love; nicest thing you've said to me for quite a while," Jack replied, smirking.

She suddenly bent, kissing him firmly and frustratedly. After a moment she drew back. "You need to stop doing this. You're going to get yourself killed," she said to him.

He blinked at her, the feel of her lips still upon his. After a moment he replied, "Betty, I got myself killed years ago. You know that. I'm just waiting now."

"Don't say that," she firmly ordered.

"You know it's true," he said, eyes softening as a fond smirk pulled at his lips.

"As if something as trivial as death could hold you down," she bit, looking sadly and painfully away from him as she shut her eyes.

He tilted his head to the side then reached up, turning her chin to face him. "I love you," he gently murmured.

"I… I love you too… Come back soon. Will and I will be waiting," she replied, smiling at him. She bent, kissing him again, then let the paramedics wheel him away. "I love you," she repeated softly as he was being driven away. She turned to look at her son and his friends then approached them.

KP

Will looked over at his mother and worry came to his eyes. "Will he be okay, mom?" Will uncertainly asked.

"Goodness knows the man's been through worse," Dr. Director answered reassuringly. "Well then, let's try and get through the rest of your vacation without incident, shall we? Goodness knows you children deserve it." They all grinned at her, nodding. Dr. Director smiled back at them.


	9. Days Later

_**Kim Possible Aftermath 15: Hostage Situation**_

(A/N: Third up today and last chapter. And now we see how Jack Hench operates and why he's so confident the law has nothing on him. Well, kind of.)

Days Later

It had taken a few days for things to settle again. It had been hard. Especially on Will. At least until Jack had returned, now able to leave hospital. They were _still_ in the process of winding down, to be honest. Currently the girls were all in a salon for a day of beauty care. The boys were catching a movie. "So, Yori. How many girls has your brother bedded?" Hope questioned the ninja. Yori spit out the water she'd been drinking, eyes widening. "Ooh, one of those things you don't talk about in Japan, right?" Hope asked, cringing.

Yori coughed then cleared her throat, still looking flustered. "Hai!" she exclaimed in horror, gawking in disgust at the question. "Hope-san, it is not my place to question or discuss my brother's…"

"Sex life?" Monique offered, flipping the page of a magazine.

Yori gave her a reproachful look then turned hopelessly back to Hope. "I would not say he has bedded _any_, but I do not know for certain. He has allured untold numbers and, as you Americans say 'hit on' twice that. As to my brother's…"

"Sex life?" Monique supplied, smirking and flipping another page.

Again she got a death glare from Yori. "Hai. As to that, I know nothing," the ninja said. Nor did she believe she would _want_ to know.

"I'll tell you right now that boy is _not_ a virgin," Marcella deadpanned.

"Can we not talk about this now?" Amelia cut in agitatedly.

"Easy Amelia, they're just saying what they think," Tara defended.

"We have no right to talk about Hirotaka when he isn't here to defend himself," Amelia replied.

"If he could be bothered to," Bonnie said.

"Tell me you weren't one of his exploits, Bonnie," Kim groaned.

"Ugh, like no way!" Bonnie replied. Though she certainly wouldn't have objected too much back then had the offer been extended.

"It is a great dishonor, at least in _our_ family it is, to lay with a woman before marriage. It would be a great shame and disgrace. Hirotaka, if he had brought such shame on our family's name, would not have spoken of it. And he is very good at hiding such things," Yori said.

Kim turned to Dr. Director, who was reading through a file. "What are you trying to find out?" she wondered.

"What link the gunmen had to Jack," Dr. Director replied.

"Err, Dr. Director, this is supposed to be a vacation. You don't work on a vacation," Zita said to the woman.

Dr. Director sighed through her nose and put the file away. "You're right. Forgive me, but you must understand how difficult it is to try _not_ to work when a long time enemy and your son were nearly executed for seemingly no reason," the leader of Global Justice replied. "This has HenchCo written all over it."

"Jack Hench isn't responsible for what his weapons are put to use for after he's distributed them to sellers," Marcella pointed out.

"I know… But I suspect this goes beyond the passive making and distributing of weapons and gadgets," Dr. Director said.

"Hello, vacation. Give it a rest," Justine Flanner said. "And coming from me that's _really_ saying something."

"I realize that," Dr. Director sighed in frustration, laying back and trying to relax. GJ could handle this.

KP

Sure enough, that night Dr. Director found herself gripping the phone of her hotel room tightly as her agents gave a grave update. "What?" she asked dangerously as Will listened in shock.

"Not only was there nothing illegal involved in the interaction that we can find, when we went to question the leader, we found him in his cell hanging from the roof. They say it was suicide," the agent on the other end said.

"How long after his one phone call did it occur?" Will deadpanned.

"He never made a phone call. No notes got into him. There was nothing," the agent said.

"Yes there was. We just can't find it," Dr. Director disgustedly replied. With that she hung up. Will scoffed in revulsion and stormed out of the room. Dr. Director remained. She heard footsteps and looked up. In the doorway stood Jack Hench.

"Dr. Director, why so glum?" he questioned.

"You sick bastard," she icily replied, shaking her head.

"Ouch. Where did _that_ come from?" Jack asked.

"You know perfectly well," she replied.

Jack shook his head. "I wish I could understand you," he said with a frustrated and hopeless sigh. He would never get this woman, he knew. Which would be his downfall one day. He was just counting down the minutes now, honestly.

"Will you never be satisfied?" she hissed.

"About what?" he confusedly questioned. A lie. The confusion was a lie and Dr. Director _knew_ it was a lie.

"He's dead… the leader is dead… He could have given us information, leads, and now he's dead and his men have shut up," Dr. Director replied.

"That's terrible," Jack said in horror.

"What did you tell him?!" Dr. Director screamed at him.

"Still trying to pin it on me, huh? What could I have possibly done from a hospital, Betty?" he asked. "Ever stop to think that not everything under the sun is because of me?" She slapped him. He took it like a man—he would _not_ hit back like some child—and pursed his lips, turning to her.

"Unjustified, Dr. Director. I could have you charged with assault and battery," Jack said.

"Bite me," she shot.

"If you insist," he replied. He suddenly lunged, picking her up. She screamed and began to struggle as he threw her down onto the bed and climbed on top of her grinning wickedly.

"If you even _think_ about it…!" she began. He kissed her lips forcefully then drew back.

"You think I'm capable of doing that to you?" he asked.

"You're capable of anything," Dr. Director sneered. He smirked.

"You're right, I am," he replied, kissing her again. She bit at him viciously.

"I swear to the gods I will charge you with rape!" she shot. Then again…

"That's it, work it out. My body is ready for your punishment," he cooed to her. She blushed furiously. He kissed her again. This time she found herself kissing back. Wait, what the hell was she doing?! She didn't think so!

"Damn you!" she screamed, shoving him off of her and getting off the bed, storming angrily away. Damn the flush, damn the sudden desire, damn the man. Damn him to hell from whence he came.

KP

Dr. Director wondered where her son had gone. He stepped out of the shadows suddenly, looking pale and worried. "Mom?" he asked.

"I should hate him," she said to him flatly.

"You do!" Will insisted.

"Damn right I do… And love him about the same…" she answered.

"Did he try to…" Will uncertainly began.

"I _wish_ he had. It would give me reason to leave or lock him up for life," Dr. Director replied.

"Then why don't you charge him?!" Will demanded.

Dr. Director paused, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly and closing her eyes. "Because I wanted it as much as him… And he knew it…" she finally answered, folding her arms. With that she entered into the bathroom, the stunned Will blinking after her. He was never going to understand his mother's relationship with his father, he determined. Never in a million years would he even scratch the surface. He sighed deeply and went to bed.

KP

Dr. Director was lounging in a bath looking dejectedly at a glass of wine. The door to the bathroom opened. She looked up. Jack. She grimaced and turned to the wine, downing it in one swallow. Jack cringed. He should probably be offended at that, but whatever. Dr. Director poured another glass and went to drink it too. Jack moved, covering the top with his hand. "Decided to take up drinking?" he questioned innocently.

She scowled at him looking like she wanted to rip his eyes out. "Let. Go. Of the glass," she said dangerously.

Jack was silent. "I'll give you a full confession," he said. "I'll tell you exactly what happened."

Dr. Director was quiet. "The catch?" she finally asked.

"I get to join you," he flirted with a sly wink.

She looked dubiously at him but then smirked, chuckling. "I don't believe you," she replied. "I don't believe for a second you'll hold up your end."

"You'll never know if you don't test it," Jack replied.

Dr. Director was quiet, pondering it. "Fine," she finally relented. Jack smiled and went to lock the bathroom door. "Try anything and I pull my gun on you," she murmured to him.

Jack chuckled. "Luxurious bath, wine, scented candles… and a loaded gun close at hand dangling between your fingers. Does the word badass mean anything to you?" he asked.

"Yes," Dr. Director none to modestly replied, smirking proudly.

Jack undressed and slipped into the bath with her, drawing her close. She smiled, leaning back against him and closing her eyes with a sigh. Jack gently kissed her neck. "It's been some time," he purred to her.

"You don't get squat until you hold up your end," Dr. Director said.

Jack frowned. Fine. He leaned back, thinking. Complete and total honestly. Like always. "He came to me for the same reasons any other client of mine does. Weapons, suggestions. I gave him a few profiles of some people he could go to that could teach him how to better use the weapons he wanted. Gave him weapons too. You want the bill? There was nothing illegal sold to him."

"As a matter of fact I do," she replied.

"You'll find it on your bedside table," Jack said. "He asked for advice."

"As to…" Dr. Director fished.

"As to a hypothetical scenario on how the objective, illegal kidnapping and smuggling of some new additions to the Middleton Zoo, could be reached," Jack replied.

"And you said…?" she pushed.

"I said he'd have to figure that one out himself," Jack replied. "I told him my hands stayed clean along with my business and he could take his questions elsewhere. He asked what time the zoo opened and closed. I told him. He asked where the animals were kept because he intended to visit there the next day. I gave him a map of the zoo and circled the locations of the animals he most wanted to see."

Dr. Director felt her blood boiling and darkness came to her eyes. Damn _bastard_. There was absolutely nothing illegal in any of this… And she knew that was the point… He was all but rubbing it in her face. No, he wasn't even rubbing it in her face. He was being honest. Genuinely and completely honest. He was not telling a lie, he was not hiding the truth, he was saying flat out what he'd done and how he'd done it. He was confessing. After all, when you had nothing to hide, why hide? There was no reason he _couldn't_ admit to his part in this.

"Then?" she asked.

"He asked about security there. I told him it was pretty lax in most places, but around the new additions it tightened considerably so there would be no need to worry about someone taking the animals away. I told him the only thing that would pull the guards away was if a fire broke out somewhere in the zoo and it was bad enough that they had to all respond to it. Told him that the odds of that happening were slim to none, though. Fire station was only five minutes away and police were ten, so they wouldn't be gone all that long. I told him the nicest and least busy time of day to visit was an hour or two before closing when things were dying down and said that hypothetically that would be the time anyone with a brain would strike, but odds of success were very, very dependent on timetables and who has time for any of that?" Jack replied. "He thanked me, he left."

KP

"Oh you bastard," she said icily. He had given them everything they would need and then some, and it was nothing someone in the tourism industry couldn't have told them either.

Jack shrugged. "Any more questions?" he asked.

"Why did the man end up dead?" she asked. "And how?"

"He's dead?" Jack asked. "Well, I guess in retrospect that isn't much of a surprise. After all, Monkey Fist wouldn't have taken kindly to the news his ward had almost been murdered by the guy. Good old Montgomery would have had none of that. Would have dealt with it severely. Hmm… damn I knew I shouldn't have told the Wego Twins about this little adventure."

"What were you doing with Team Go?" Dr. Director asked.

"We kept in touch, honey. The boys asked if anything interesting had happened lately when we were talking. I told them about the mall incident. They must have told Shego, who would have told Drakken, who would have told Monkey Fist. Guess you can't trust heroes either," Jack replied.

Dr. Director inwardly fumed. Could she call him a bastard enough times to even hope to cover it, she wondered? Probably not. "That's your statement then?" she asked.

"I'll give you recorded conversations, Betty. I always record my business dealings. I have nothing to hide," Jack said.

"Story of our lives," Dr. Director deadpanned bitterly.

Jack blinked, processing the comment. "Was that a slight?" he asked, offended at the potential implications.

Dr. Director smiled wickedly. "You stopped surprising me in intimate practices long ago," she replied.

"Oh you did not just go there," Jack bit, eyes lighting up angrily, obviously ticked at the comment.

"I went there," she replied.

Jack was quiet. After a moment he smirked and turned her quickly around. "Honey, if you wanted new tricks, you could have just asked," he purred.

She smirked, eyes sparkling challengingly. "I want new tricks," she said.

"Oh I'll give them to you," he growled. Immediately he pounced, bringing her under the water with him. Would be quieter that way. Will definitely didn't need to hear whatever it was he and Dr. Director discussed—or rather did—in private as they thrashed around.


End file.
